S’porean man pays $50 for a parcel he thought was for his family; turns out to be a scam

SINGAPORE: A Punggol resident fell victim to a scam when he paid $50 for a parcel that he thought someone in his family had ordered. 

He was used to his mother buying things online and preferred paying on delivery, so it was no surprise when a delivery guy handed a parcel to his dad, for which he paid $50. However, when he gave the parcel to his mother, he found out that she had not ordered anything. 

The parcel had his sister’s name on it, but when he told her about it, she, too, said she had not ordered anything. When they opened the parcel, they found it contained a plain T-shirt. 

When they called the delivery person, he claimed that he did not know anything. “I pulled the sticker on the parcel and it revealed that the parcel was sent to another unit. It was rejected. So they pasted another sticker. Next scam victim, I guess. They’re preying on the elderly,” the resident said. 

Cash-on-Delivery (COD) scams 

The courier involved, J&T Express, is aware of COD scams and has published a public advisory on its website. 

This kind of scam works when scammers send packages to freight forwarder companies. These companies give the packages to delivery services like J&T Express. A delivery person takes the package to the designated address and collects the payment. The money ultimately goes back to the scammer. 

J&T offered some tips on how to prevent this kind of scam: 

• Do not pay for any parcels that you have not bought
  • If you encounter a suspicious delivery and/or payment request, reject immediately and report the delivery details to [email protected]
• • Inform members who are receiving the parcel for you:
  • If others are helping you to receive a parcel that requires COD, let them know what it is, when to expect it and how much to pay.
• Don’t be afraid to reject it:
  • Always check the item description and delivery details. If they look suspicious, reject it!
• Research before purchasing:
  • Check the ratings and the customer reviews of the seller before purchasing.
• • If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t what you are expecting:
  • If an item is priced at a too good of a price, its most probably not the item you would be expecting.

Singapore is doing more to fight scams. Earlier this year,  Parliament  passed the Protection from Scams Bill to protect people who are targeted by scammers.