SINGAPORE: A 57-year-old Singaporean woman lost more than S$100,000 after falling victim to an online-store scam advertised on TikTok. She used her life savings and borrowed from family, friends, banks, and loan companies.
She clicked on a TikTok ad promising easy money, submitted her personal details, and was contacted by a man who explained that she would act as an intermediary—placing orders with suppliers, paying upfront, and earning commissions afterwards. He sent her a link to register and open an “online store.”
“At first, I received small orders worth a few hundred dollars. I transferred the money on time and successfully withdrew my commission and prepayment twice,” she said.
Encouraged by the initial success, she continued as order values rose to tens of thousands. She kept topping up her account, borrowing more money each time.
Eventually, when she tried to withdraw her funds, she was told she had missed deadlines, her “credit limit” was insufficient, and she needed to deposit even more. Additional penalties followed, including a nearly S$30,000 fine. The scammer claimed to have paid S$19,000 of the fine and urged her to cover the rest.
She finally stopped transferring money. In total, she lost over S$100,000 without recovering a single cent.
“Everyone around me said it was a scam. I was heartbroken and didn’t want to accept the truth,” she admitted.
The Singapore Police Force has received her report and is investigating.
In a separate case, at least 30 customers lost money after a furniture company took orders during TikTok live streams but failed to deliver the beds.
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