Woman used altered PayNow screenshots to cheat restaurants of over $9,000 in food orders

SINGAPORE: A 33-year-old Filipino woman, Santos-Tumalip Maria Monalyn Bagaporo, has admitted to cheating multiple restaurants and a salon by falsifying PayNow payment screenshots over a span of more than two years, with the total amount involved exceeding $9,000.

Bagaporo pleaded guilty to four charges on Tuesday, including fraud, theft, and obstruction of justice.

According to court documents, between May 2022 and August 2023, Bagaporo repeatedly ordered food from Home of Seafood, a restaurant in Joo Chiat, via WhatsApp.

She paid using PayNow, but instead of transferring money to the restaurant, she sent the funds to her own account, took a screenshot of the successful transaction and used an editing application to alter the details, changing the payee’s name to “Home of Seafood” to make it appear as if payment had been made.

In some instances, she also changed the payer’s account details to make it seem as though the payment came from a different account.

Over this 15-month period, she defrauded the restaurant more than 35 times, amounting to nearly $3,900 worth of unpaid food orders.

The restaurant manager did not check whether the payments had actually been received in the restaurant’s account until he discovered the scam in September 2023 and lodged a police report.

Bagaporo continued her deceit even after being released on bail. Between June 2024 and May 2025, she used the same fraudulent method to place 24 orders with an Italian restaurant, cheating the business of nearly $6,170 worth of food. She also used similar tactics to obtain services from a hair salon without paying.

When questioned by the police, Bagaporo deleted WhatsApp messages from her business contacts in an attempt to obstruct the investigation. She further admitted to stealing groceries worth about $740 from a Giant supermarket in Bedok in November last year.

Sentencing will be carried out at a later date.