SINGAPORE: A foreign domestic helper took to social media asking for help after loansharks purportedly sent her money she did not ask for and demanded she pay it back with interest.
In an anonymous post to a support group on social media for foreign domestic helpers and employers alike, the maid wrote that she saw an advertisement on TikTok for loans. She followed the account and reached out to them via WhatsApp Messenger. She said she needed some cash, so she spoke to an agent and gave them her details and her employer’s address and contact number. However, she added that she was still undecided on whether to take a loan and only wanted to see if she could manage the interest rate and amount.
The helper then added that she did not feel good about what they were telling her “so I stop and block this #, and thats the start of my problem now they message me on whatsapp w another # saying I want trouble is it? 300$ for block fee + cancel fee.. so i leave it and block this # again , suddenly my singtel dash account notify me that I received some amount,, then another whatsapp # message me informing me they send amount like that need to pay for 4days w interest.. + the block fee and cancellation fee .. what did i do is I send back the amount that i received and block them”, she wrote.
She explained that without asking for a loan, she blocked the initial phone number, but they messaged her using another phone number. She claimed that without her consent, they sent money to her account, asking her to pay interest, a fee for blocking their number as well as a cancellation fee.
In other news, a frustrated employer took to social media complaining about her domestic helper who had been lying to them.
In an anonymous post to a Facebook group for both employers and helpers alike, the woman wrote: “My helper has been lying to us from day one of her contract”. She added that her maid was ending her contract early, which the family did not mind.
However, the employer wrote that her maid had been lying to them despite the family saving her from a loanshark once. “Now she tels us she already got an employer who is allowing her to stay out of registered premises from sat night to monday morning. Is there anyway where i can keep mom informed about her plans? Is there any way we can ban her?” the woman wrote, asking others in the group what the rules were.