Stomper pleads with ‘mentor’ to return $11,400 she deposited in job scam: ‘It’s all my savings’
A woman said she lost $11,400 to a remote job scam after responding to an advertisement on Instagram.
Stomper Y had pleaded to her “mentor” to return the money to no avail.
“I wanted to earn some money for bills and rent since I don’t have a job now and no salary,” she told Stomp on March 22.
After clicking on the ad, Y filled an online form with her name, mobile number and whether she is a Singaporean or permanent resident.
On March 11, the Stomper received a WhatsApp message from someone named “Vanessa”, who said her company was “assisting several Singapore companies with flexible, part-time remote roles”.
Vanessa informed Y that the remote admin assistant job was 100 per cent work from home and “mainly product data management”. No experience was needed as it was a “very simple” job.
A “mentor” was arranged to guide the Stomper step by step. Y was to “use the Teikametrics internal system to upload product data provided by merchants, helping to promote their products and boost sales”.
Teikametrics is a US company that describes itself as a retail marketplace optimisation platform that helps brands drive profitable growth.
The Stomper said: “When I Googled to see if it was a legitimate company, it gave me the results of the real Teikametrics. Hence, I thought it was a legitimate company.”
The mentor whose name was “Thomas” told Y that her job was to “help products on various e-commerce platforms increase their sales and positive reviews”.
She had to complete up to three “task sets” of 30 orders a day. For a “normal order”, she would earn a one per cent commission. For a “package order” of multiple products, it would be three per cent. She could earn between $100 and $400 for each set, meaning it was possible to earn up to $1,200 daily.
“If you have a package order, you will have to advance your cash first. Then it will be returned together with the commission,” explained the Stomper.
The more money she put in, the more commission she would supposedly earn.
In the first two rounds, Y deposited between $200 and $250, and was able to complete the orders. “That’s why I trusted them since they returned my money together with the commission I worked for,” she said.
“In the third round, I had many package orders. I could not choose or cancel the orders given to me. It was automatically assigned. I had to advance all my money.”
By then, the Stomper had put in $11,400. When she was asked to transfer another $21,000, she baulked.
“As I didn’t have any cash left, the mentor persuaded me to try and find $21,000 and finish the job so that I could withdraw all my money,” she said.
Y began to suspect something was wrong. She asked Thomas: “Which job takes money from the employee?”
After her request for her $11,400 back was rebuffed, the Stomper called the ScamShield helpline at 1799. Y found out she had fallen prey to a job scam and made a police report on March 14.
In her messages to the Thomas and Vanessa, the Stomper repeatedly pleaded for her money back, but they insisted that she had to complete her “task” by depositing the $21,000 first.
She wrote to Vanessa: “I am already at a breaking point after losing all my money. If you want to help, help. Don’t have to argue any more.”
Vanessa replied: “I do not feel like saying any more to you. It is really a waste of time. You are stubborn.”
In response to a Stomp query, the police confirmed a report was lodged, adding that investigations are ongoing.
Y told Stomp on March 23: “Till now, I have no news of the cash. It’s all my savings.”
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