Mum left with 12 cents in account after son falls for fake Carousell buyer scam while selling $50 watch
A 64-year-old woman was left with just 12 cents in her bank account after her son fell victim to a phishing scam while trying to sell a $50 watch on Carousell.
Madam Jiang, who owns a car workshop, shared her experience with Chinese-language daily Shin Min Daily News in the hope of warning others about scams involving fake buyers.
According to Mdm Jiang, her 34-year-old son had listed the watch for sale on Carousell. On July 9, a buyer contacted him expressing interest in purchasing it and asked for more photos.
The conversation later moved from the platform to WhatsApp after they exchanged phone numbers. They agreed to proceed with the transaction on July 11.
Mdm Jiang said her son initially wanted payment by cash or PayNow, but the buyer insisted on paying through the Carousell platform instead.
Wanting to complete the sale quickly, her son agreed. The buyer then sent him an email containing a link, claiming it was for him to receive payment.
The son clicked on the link and found a webpage that closely resembled Carousell’s website. It displayed photos of the watch, the selling price and what appeared to be the buyer’s personal details.
The buyer instructed him to click a “Receive Payment” button and enter his bank account details.
However, as the son’s own bank account was temporarily unavailable, he entered his mother’s bank account details instead. He later asked her for the one-time password (OTP) sent by the bank.
After entering the OTP, the son asked his mother whether she had received the $50 payment.
Instead of receiving any amount of money, $4,600 was transferred out of Mdm Jiang’s account almost immediately.
“I received a bank notification and immediately called the bank, but the money had already been transferred out,” Mdm Jiang said. “The bank advised us to make a police report.”
When they clicked on the same link again on July 12, the webpage had already been flagged as a scam website.
Mdm Jiang said the loss left her with just 12 cents in her personal bank account. She is now relying on withdrawals from her company account and borrowing money from relatives and friends to cover her daily expenses.
Family already under financial strain
The $4,600 had represented all the savings in her personal bank account, said Mdm Jiang.
She said she took over her late husband’s car workshop after he died three years ago, only to discover the business had been operating at a loss and was saddled with debt.
Mdm Jiang also said her elder son, who has a criminal record, has struggled to find stable employment and now works as a delivery driver, while her younger son is bankrupt and unemployed. She also helps care for an autistic grandson.
To ease the family’s financial burden, she has put her five-room Telok Blangah flat up for sale and hopes to move into a smaller home.
She said she does not entirely blame her son for the incident, who had simply wanted to sell the watch quickly.
“We’ll treat this as a lesson,” she said, adding that she hopes others will not trust payment links sent by strangers.
The police confirmed that a report has been lodged and investigations are ongoing.
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