SINGAPORE: A female homeowner wanted to make changes to her four-room HDB flat and hired an interior designer to help her do the job. The interior designer she booked asked for a $48,000 renovation fee but, unfortunately, did not start working on the project.
The 36-year-old homeowner told Shin Min Daily News that a local renovation service platform, HomeMatch, assigned the interior designer to her. The designer contacted her by phone to know the renovation details. After meeting the designer, the homeowner decided to proceed with the renovation due to positive reviews and her satisfaction with the initial quote. Initially, she deposited $1,000.
The woman said the designer’s original quotation was about $38,000, but it was later raised to $48,000. The renovation date was due to begin in August, but before that, the designer asked her for payment, stating that he needed to make the cabinets in advance to speed up the renovation process. Moreover, he said that he would pay for the electricity installation in advance, and she could pay him later on.
“At the time, the designer sent me a memo from the company saying that the company’s bank account had changed and asked me to transfer the money to the account he sent me, so I followed his instructions and transferred the money, which totalled about $48,000,” the woman declared.
Unfortunately, the woman received a call from the renovation service platform that the designer had gone missing only two weeks before the renovation was scheduled to start. She later figured that the bank account that the designer had given was not the company’s account but his personal account.
The woman immediately tried to contact the designer but could not reach him at that time. When she finally reached him, the designer promised that he would pay her back, but he made excuses to delay his payment several times.
In her anger, the woman called the police and received the shocking news — seven other people had fallen for the designer’s scam.
The woman remarked, “I didn’t expect that after I called the police, they told me that I wasn’t the first victim, and that seven people had called the police against him so far.”
When Shin Min Daily News tried to contact the designer, he immediately hung up after learning the caller was a reporter.
Additionally, the renovation company also claimed that it was a victim of the designer. The company emphasised that the designer was not their employee but worked with them as an independent sales agent and contractor.
The police confirmed that the case is under investigation.
