SINGAPORE: A page on Facebook that tried to get viewers to click on a link to buy the latest Labubu dolls at a discounted price has been reported to the police.
Labubu is a female elf created by Hong Kong illustrator Kasing Lung as part of his popular story series, The Monsters.
In October 2023, Labubu plush charms were launched and became a hit, especially after Lisa from K-pop supergroup Blackpink was seen with them on her bags.
They have since become one of the must-have items for 2024, and are so popular that they reportedly sell out as soon as they’re released for sale at Pop Mart.
Canny resellers have been able to get high prices for them.
However, the doll was recently used in an attempt to gather the personal information of netizens.
According to a report in AsiaOne, there was a Facebook page where interested parties were told to click on a link if they wanted to buy Labubu dolls from the “The Monsters Fall In Wild” series at a discounted price.
The page purported to belong to the shopping mall Plaza Singapura, located on Orchard Road.
It showed a picture that was allegedly from the Pop Mart outlet at Plaza Singapura where crowds were said to have lined up for as long as six hours to buy the doll.
However, the photo did not appear even to have been taken at Plaza Singapura.
Meanwhile, the fraudsters responsible for the page wrote that the doll would be sold online since “unexpectedly high demand” meant that not everyone could buy it at the store.
They then said buyers could “enjoy the promotional offer” and get the dolls at S$89 per piece instead of at S$109.90, which is the Labubu doll’s actual price at Pop Mart.
Mothership reported that in reality, the dolls are sold out online and at Pop Mart outlets in Singapore.
Upon clicking on the fake Facebook page link, unwitting would-be buyers would be asked for their credentials, leaving them vulnerable to scams.
A spokesperson for Plaza Singapura has been quoted in Mothership as saying, “These accounts are not related to Plaza Singapura or CapitaLand in any way.”
The page was not only reported to Meta, Facebook’s patent company, but also to the police.
The Plaza Singapura spokesperson added that people can see the latest promotions at the shopping mall on its website.
The public should be warned that while the Facebook page purported to belong to Plaza Singapura has already been reported, there are others on the platform, including those claiming to be “the official Pop Mart FB page”./TISG
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