Durian Seller Offers $5,378 Worth Of Durians To Woman Who Lost $53,780 Life Savings In Fruit Scam
“If she agrees, we will deliver $5,378 worth of Mao Shan Wang durians to her. That amount is more than 200kg of durians — enough for about 100 people,” said the seller.
Buying durians is tricky business — unless you are a regular customer and have good rapport with a trusted durian seller, you run the risk of getting gored by a bad deal.
One Mdm Koh learnt it the hard way when she lost close to $54,000 — almost her entire life savings — in an online durian promotion scam.
Tricked by $6/kg Mao Shan Wang deal
The housewife, 50, was tempted by a Facebook ad for a stall called TMZ Fresh, Lianhe Zaobao reported. The promotion offered Mao Shan Wang durians at just $6/kg, and D24 durians for $3/kg.
Mao Shan Wang, also known as Musang King, is generally considered one of the most premium durian cultivars. During durian season from June to August, its price plunges to as low as $12/kg when there is a glut, though rarely lower than that (educate yourself on how to spot a genuine MSW here).
On May 4, Mdm Koh decided to order durians from TMZ Fresh for her family. After confirming her order, the seller asked for her mobile number and told her that a customer service rep will be in touch with her for the delivery.
Mdm Koh then received a call from the purported rep, who got her to download a mobile app called E2 Mall and make payment by keying in her bank account details on the app.
Scammers drained S$53,780 from her account
Mdm Koh told Lianhe Zaobao that she felt her phone “heating up” slightly after submitting her details, deducing that that was probably when the scammers got to work draining her account.
She only realised she was the victim of a scam the next day, when she tried to pay for a meal using PayNow and realised that there was not enough funds in her account. Upon checking, she saw that there were two unauthorised money transfers made the day before for $27,549 and $26,231.
A total of $53,780 was transferred out of her account, leaving her with only $7. Mdm Koh immediately alerted the police and her bank, who are currently investigating the matter.
Regretful about her action, she also lamented to Lianhe Zaobao that those were the “most expensive durians” she had ever bought and that she did not feel like eating them anymore.
Durian seller offers to sponsor $5,378 worth of durians
After hearing of Mdm Koh’s plight, local durian seller 99 Old Trees offered to sponsor her $5,378 worth of durians.
Speaking to 8days.sg, 99 Old Trees’ director Kelvin Tan, 39, said that he had contacted the Chinese paper to put him in touch with Mdm Koh. “Her husband will speak to her and let us know tomorrow. If she agrees, we will deliver $5,378 worth of durians to her,” he said.
According to Kelvin, that is approximately 200kg of durians, enough to feed “about 100 people”. He intends to send her Mao Shan Wang. “Unless Mdm Koh has a special preference, we will oblige her if we have stock,” he shared. “We probably have to split it into three or four deliveries for her over this durian season.”
The reason for his gesture, he explained, is to spread some goodwill as a durian seller. “The durian industry doesn't really enjoy a very good reputation. Though Singaporeans really love the fruit, the industry is always plagued by negative stories about dishonest and unscrupulous sellers, and elaborate durian scams in recent years,” said Kelvin. “It really casts a bad light on durian vendors and makes it hard for people like us to recruit new blood to join us. So we want to use a small gesture to show people that there are still legitimate vendors who just want to earn an honest living.”
In response to 8days.sg’s query on what Mdm Koh is to do with 200kg of durians, Kelvin said: “We were thinking she can probably sell to her close friends and relatives. That will help her recoup some of her losses.”
As for why he has decided not to give a cash gift, Kelvin replied: “We thought about it, but that doesn’t seem very appropriate. This was after all a scam due to the buying of a non-essential product, and the victim was duped into thinking she was getting a good deal.”
To make up for the deal that Mdm Koh thought she was getting, Kelvin felt it was better to send her durians. He said: “Giving her durians so that she can still enjoy the season with her family and friends, that we can do,” he said.
But he is aware that his goodwill gesture may be turned down, as Mdm Koh had earlier told the media that she had lost her appetite for durians after getting scammed. He opined: “Scams are definitely traumatising, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t accept the offer lah.”
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