A Singaporean man was reportedly scammed of more than $30,000 by his Taiwanese “online celebrity girlfriend” who threw tantrums if she felt he didn’t give her enough.

The 41-year-old victim, Mr Chen, who works as a salesperson in Singapore, told Shin Min Daily News that he started following the “internet celebrity” online from around 2020 to 2021.

The “celebrity” then started doing live streams in November 2021 to interact with her “fans”, and Chen then started interacting with her and eventually got a reply from her about 2 months later, on 14 January earlier this year.

The two then started chatting online daily with the “celebrity” sending him selfies and their relationship developed.

She then became a host for a live shopping platform and invited Chen to watch the live stream and support her.

She told him that her company wanted her to collect 100 gifts that were “filled with love” and if she couldn’t meet the target, she won’t be able to continue hosting, and she hoped Chen could gift her $50.

During the live stream, Chen spent $2,500 on the woman, and they confirmed their relationship on 1 March after chatting constantly.

The woman even sent him a long message where she confessed her love for him.

Since then, she would ask Chen to send her gifts and if the gift that he sent is not the same amount as what her fans bought her on the live streams, she would throw tantrums.

Chen ended up spending about $30,000 on gifts for his “online celebrity girlfriend”.

He then realised that he was cheated when other fans contacted him, and he noticed that the woman’s replies to him were not coherent.

He also found out that the messages sent by the woman were exactly the same as the other fans who were scammed by her, including a 32-year-old man who received the same message at the same time.

They then lodged a report with the police.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the woman is a Malaysian who flew to Taiwan to develop her career, and the police confirmed with SMDN that they are looking into the incident(s).

Note: Images used for illustration purposes only and are not related to the persons involved in the incidents.

A shop in Peninsula Plaza that offers computer services, allegedly tried to scam a netizen’s maid of her laptop, according to a netizen who spoke to Stomp.

The maid was at the shop trying to collect the laptop, when the shopkeeper allegedly told her that someone else had already collected it on her behalf – but she could see her laptop right there in the shop.

The netizen, Edwin, said that the laptop belongs to him and that he lent it to the maid because she is taking up courses to improve her computer skills.

The maid had went to the shop at Peninsula Plaza on 15 May to install Microsoft Office, where she was then given a handwritten receipt and told to come back about 1 to 2 weeks later to collect the laptop.

Shop told her laptop was collected by someone else

She then received a message to collect the laptop on 12 June and when she went down, she was told that someone had collected the laptop on her behalf and that it is missing.

However, she could see her laptop right there in the shop, complete with the identifying decorative stickers pasted on it, with the shop owner insisting that that laptop was not hers, shouting at her and chasing her away.

The maid was left helpless and ended up calling her employer for help, and the shopkeeper then asked him over the phone for the laptop’s IMEI number and specs.

Shop owner said he could “hack” the “lost” laptop

The shop owner claimed that it was so that he could “hack” the “lost” laptop and delete or retrieve his important files.

The owner then told Edwin that he would be taking “responsibility” for the “lost” laptop, saying that he will refund whatever secondhand value there was based on the specs of the laptop.

The netizen then asked the owner if the whole laptop is missing, how can they possibly retrieve the important files?

The owner then said that he “had a way”, and Edwin then felt that there was a potential scam going on, before telling the owner he would call him back in 5 minutes.

It is worth highlighting that Edwin is a double major graduate in cyber forensics and IT business.

Edwin decided not to call the shop back because they were giving contradicting reasons and couldn’t speak proper English.

Shop owner demands evidence to prove laptop belongs to man

So he went down to the shop in person, arriving within 30 minutes and got into a dispute with the shop owner, telling him to return his laptop, but the shop owner kept insisting for evidence such as IMEI number of the laptop.

Edwin told Stomp that who on earth can remember the IMEI number and 10-year-old laptop information such as programs installed?

The shop owner then kept arguing and the dispute escalated with both parties getting louder, and the shop owner then asked Edwin for the name of the laptop.

Edwin then gave the name of his cousin who last used the laptop, and he then noticed that the laptop was note operating due to having a low battery.

Verified laptop name without even turning it on

But the shop owner then “verified” the name of the laptop without even turning it on.

The shop owner eventually handed him back his laptop after seeing a video being taken of their interaction.

Edwin then walked out of the shop without saying anything because “all I wanted was my laptop back as it had been away for almost one month”.

He added that after all these troubles, Microsoft Office was still not installed on the laptop and no payment was made.

The police confirmed that they have received a police report about the incident and are investigating.

You can watch the video of the incident here.

A repeat offender who has a history of attacking taxi drivers, reoffended once again after being released from prison.

Tan Wee Ming, 33 years old, was sentenced to 5 weeks imprisonment after pleading guilty to 3 charges, including the use of criminal force.

Another two charges for refusing to pay taxi fares were considered for his sentencing – he had attacked three taxi drivers in separate incidents after refusing to pay for the rides.

First incident

In August 2018, Tan boarded a 63-year-old man’s taxi at Sultan Plaza with a woman at about 7am, asking for a ride to Bukit Timah to drop her off, and then to Ang Mo Kio.

The driver was initially there to pick up his wife from work, but accepted Tan as a customer and told him that his wife would be sitting in front.

Tan agreed to it, because he knew it would be hard to find another taxi.

At the end of the trip, when the driver asked Tan for payment of the taxi meter fare of $42, Tan refused to pay because he felt it was too expensive.

He then alighted from the taxi, and the driver then confronted him, and Tan then pushed the driver’s shoulder, causing the driver to almost fall down.

The driver felt pain in his shoulder after the incident and received 3 days of medical leave.

The police later found Tan at a coffeeshop nearby on the same day, and he was then placed under investigation.

The police then tried to facilitate restitution, and Tan then offered the driver $62, which the latter refused and told him that he should be covered for the earnings that he lost during his medical leave.

Second incident

Tan was picked up by another 58-year-old taxi driver in January 2020, along Geylang Road.

He also ignored the driver after being told that his taxi fare from Geylang to Ang Mo Kio was $14.80, and the driver then took out his phone to take a photo of Tan.

Tan then moved towards the driver to snatch his phone, resulting in the latter stepping back and falling down – the driver ended up injuring his knee.

Third incident

One more incident happened in March 2019, when Tan refused to pay a $14 taxi fare from Geylang to Ang Mo Kio, with the Deputy Public Prosecutor Benedict Teong pointing out to the court that according to the driver, Tan had reeked of alcohol at the time.

Tan shoved the driver when being asked to make payment for the taxi fare.

DPP Teong said that Tan is a recalcitrant offender who is undeterred and unrehabilitated, and asked for the given 5 weeks imprisonment for him.

The historic The Cathay Cineplex located at 2 Handy Road, will be closing down on 27 June, with a pop-up by independent cinema operator The Projector taking over the space left behind.

mm2 Asia, the media company that runs the Cathay Cineplex cinema chains in Singapore, described the closing down of The Cathay as part of their “cost rationalisation process”.

The group chief executive for mm2 Asia, Chang Long Jong, said that the closure of The Cathay was a “business decision”, and that the retail traffic demographics have changed over the years.

As such, they had to evaluate whether it was viable commercially to have two cinemas along the Orchard shopping belt within 1.5km of each other and within 300m of another cinema.

Chang added that business will go on as usual at their other outlets.

The other shops and restaurants at The Cathay’s building will carry on operating as usual and will not be affected by the closure of the cinema.

The space that will be left behind by The Cathay will be taken over by The Projector from 23 August, a pop-up outlet.

It will be named Projector X: Picturehouse and will be used for films, live performances and will even have a cocktail and craft beer bar.

Found of The Projector, Karen Tan, said that her team is “super stoked” to be taking over the space at The Cathay, calling the venue an “iconic grand dame with a storied past”.

The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a statement that they have seized about $55,000 worth of drugs, including 173 grams of cannabis, in operations across Singapore.

A total of 146 suspects were also arrested in the operations, with investigations ongoing.

Here is what the CNB said on Facebook

𝗗𝗿𝘂𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 $𝟱𝟱,𝟬𝟬𝟬, 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟭𝟳𝟯𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘀, 𝘀𝗲𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱-𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝘂𝗴𝘀

CNB recently concluded a two-week island-wide drug operation which covered areas including Jurong, Marine Parade, Sengkang and Yishun. A total of 146 suspected drug offenders were nabbed.

During the operation, controlled drugs of about 28g of heroin, 234g of ‘Ice’, 173g of cannabis, a small amount of ketamine and cocaine, 10g of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), 11 ‘Ecstasy’ tablets, one Erimin-5 tablet, and a bottle of liquid suspected to contain GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate) were seized. These drugs have an estimated street value of about $55,000. Investigations into the drug activities of all arrested suspects are ongoing.

The Singapore Government’s stand on illicit drugs, including cannabis, is clear – they are harmful, addictive and can destroy lives, families and communities. Examples of other countries have clearly shown that a permissive attitude towards the use of drugs exacts a high cost on society. Therefore, there are strict laws against the trafficking, possession, consumption, and import or export of illicit drugs, including cannabis and cannabis products.

CNB would like to remind the public that cannabis is a Class A controlled drug listed under Singapore’s Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA) in Singapore. The consumption, possession, trafficking, import or export of any controlled drugs, including cannabis and cannabis products, is an offence under the MDA.