Man and woman arrested for fake sale of Hari Raya goodies on Instagram

A 23-year-old woman and 32-year-old man were arrested by the police on Jun 29 for cheating victims by selling them Hari Raya cakes and cookies on Instagram but not delivering the goods.

The police received several reports from victims between Jun 19 and 21 who had been cheated after ordering Hari Raya cakes and cookies from @rayabakesale on Instagram.

After contacting the seller, the victims were instructed to transfer the payment for their orders.

However, the victims never received their goods and were unable to contact the seller thereafter.

Officers from Bedok Police Division conducted extensive investigations to establish the identities of the suspects and arrested the duo on 29 June 2017.

The woman will be charged in Court on 1 July 2017 with an offence of cheating, which is punishable with an imprisonment term which may extend to 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Investigations against the man are ongoing.

The police in their statement on Jun 30 advised the public to buy from official shopping platforms and to adopt the following precautions when shopping online:

• Bear in mind that the party you are dealing with online is a stranger. 
• Before performing a transaction, find out how the online site safeguards your interest or can help you resolve disputes;
• Whenever possible, pay only on delivery;  
• If advanced payments are required, use shopping platforms that provide arrangements to release your payment to the seller only upon your receipt of the item; and
• For more information on scams, members of the public can visit scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722- 6688.