In a world where financial independence is a cherished goal, the allure of a promising job opportunity can sometimes lead individuals into unexpected and devastating situations.
The story of Ms. Lee (names have been changed to protect her identity), a 31-year-old single mother of two, is a stark reminder of how easily people can fall prey to scammers in pursuit of a brighter financial future, according to The Straits Times.
She lost $89,796, about 10 years worth of her savings, to scammers in the short span of just one week.
The Pursuit of Financial Independence
Ms. Lee had been a housewife since the birth of her first daughter, now five years old. With a second daughter who was just four months old, life had its challenges, especially following her divorce three years ago.
During this period, she relied on the support of her parents and maintenance payments from her former husband to make ends meet.
The desire to achieve financial independence led Ms. Lee to explore job opportunities in July 2023. It was during this search that she stumbled upon a seemingly legitimate marketing job advertised on Facebook.
The job ad claimed that they were representing Singsale, a local company, and offered a job related to marketing.
The Deceptive Facade
At first glance, the job opportunity appeared legitimate. The Facebook post had garnered over a hundred comments, seemingly vouching for its authenticity.
Ms. Lee went a step further to validate the offer by researching Singsale online, where she found a genuine website associated with the company.
Encouraged by what she believed to be a golden opportunity, she responded to the advertisement via WhatsApp and engaged in a conversation with a person named Ivy.
Ivy assured her that the job was straightforward – placing online orders for various products, including clothing and household items, in order to help boost the sales.
Ivy told Lee that once she complete 60 orders, she would get her money back, along with a commission fo 20%/
However, it’s important to note that while Singsale is an e-commerce website owned by MySale Group, but the transaction that Lee made were on a different platform altogether.
The Unraveling Scheme
Ivy gave Lee access to her own account to let her get acquainted with the system and in just 2 days, Lee received $1,200 after using Ivy’s account to place orders, seemingly legitimizing the job.
Motivated by this initial success, Ms. Lee proceeded to place a second set of orders with her own account this time, using her own money.
The scam took a sinister turn when an individual claiming to be a staff member of the system provided her with instructions on the purported orders and the bank accounts to which payments should be transferred.
The orders were priced from between approximately $200 to $5,000, and Lee had put in almost $89,796 from her savings into the “job” and nearly depleted her own funds.
The Heartbreaking Revelation
Believing that she would soon reap substantial profits, Ms. Lee decided to withdraw her money, along with her promised commission, which was estimated to be around $107,700.
However, her hopes were dashed when she was informed that a withdrawal fee of approximately $6,000 was required.
Desperate and distressed, Ms. Lee explained her dire situation, that she had to feed her two children. But the scammers remained unyielding, insisting that the large withdrawal amount necessitated an “authentication fee.”
Lee then complained about the situation to Ivy, who replied that she was also allegedly a victim like her. However, Lee suspects that Ivy was also part of the scammers.
Unveiling the Scam
Frustrated and realizing she had been duped, Ms. Lee reached out to Fast Debt Recovery, a debt collection agency, in an attempt to recover her lost funds.
Investigations by the agency revealed that the bank accounts to which Ms. Lee had transferred money belonged to various people, and the phone numbers had been disconnected, which were signs of scams.
Despite her best efforts, Ms. Lee faces the grim reality that her chances of recovering her hard-earned money are slim to none.
The debt collection agency encouraged her to file a police report, a step she eventually took. As of now, police investigations into the scam are currently ongoing.