Woman charged over fake bulk order scams
Shaffiq Alkhatib for The Straits Times
A Sri Lankan woman was charged on Sept 17 over her alleged links to a recent spate of fake bulk order scams targeting local businesses.
Rajadi Rajasinghe Manamendra Patabadilage Vishwa Madavi, 22, who is now remanded at the Central Police Division, was handed a charge under the Computer Misuse Act and is accused of relinquishing her bank account to others.
Rajadi, who is on a student pass, is also said to have facilitated unauthorised access to a computer system.
Her bank account allegedly received large amount of funds, the court heard on Sept 17.
She intends to plead guilty, and her case has been adjourned to Oct 1.
If convicted of the offence, a first-time offender can be jailed for up to two years and fined.
In a statement on Sept 16, the police said officers arrested three people over their suspected involvement in fake bulk order scams involving the impersonation of personnel from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
Rajadi is the first of the trio to be charged in the case.
A police spokesperson said that since Sept 4, there were at least five reported cases, involving at least $32,000 in losses.
The trio were caught following raids around Middle Road, Woodlands Street 81 and Cantonment Road on Sept 15 and 16.
Officers also seized several electronic devices and pre-paid cards during the two-day operation.
Preliminary investigations revealed the trio had allegedly acted on the instructions of a scam syndicate.
One of the three suspects allegedly helped unknown individuals subscribe to phone lines, with some of these linked to such scam cases.
In a Facebook post on Sept 14, the Ministry of Defence warned the public about fraudulent bulk orders made by individuals impersonating SAF personnel.
It said it was aware of seven such cases, none of which involved SAF personnel, and that police reports had been lodged.
In another statement, the police also warned that scammers may pose as staff from local schools and pretend to make reservations or place bulk orders.
The scammers would also request additional items, or specific brands the targeted businesses do not carry, or quantities the businesses are unable to fulfil on short notice.
Multiple eateries had fallen prey to such scams, including a nasi lemak shop.
Mr Chee Hang Joon, the boss of Sedap! eatery in Novena, told The Straits Times on Sept 15 a "Luke Wong" who claimed to be from the Bedok army camp had called him on Sept 8.
"Wong" ordered 150 packets of nasi lemak with 150 bottles of water, to be delivered for lunch the next day. The food and drinks were worth about $1,600 after a discount, Mr Chee said.
"Wong" failed to show up at lunchtime on Sept 9 and became uncontactable.
Mr Chee lodged a police report at about 1.30pm that day and was able to sell all the uncollected food.
