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Punggol woman pays S$150 for 2 unripe durians in alleged door-to-door durian deliveryman scam
The deliveryman would allegedly cut the durians open first to force victims to pay the exorbitant prices.
Punggol residents hit by door-to-door durian scam, another resident forced to spend S$488 for 5 fruits
Durians are in season now, and so are durian crimes apparently, with one Punggol woman falling victim to a supposed deliveryman’s scam.According to Shin Min Daily News, the incident occurred at Block 613D Punggol Drive.
Man claiming to be neighbour asks Punggol resident to join group durian purchase
A resident, Ms Chen (transliterated), encountered the man claiming to be her 15th-floor neighbour at her door on 31 July.He asked if she wanted to join a group purchase of durians.
The man claiming to be her neighbour then handed her a note with the alleged vendor’s contract information and the pricing per kilogram.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Ms Chen, who enjoyed durians, faced the issue of having to take care of her young children. This made it difficult for her to go out and eat, alongside the problem of a lack of durian vendors nearby.
Due to these factors, she agreed without giving it much thought.
Alleged deliveryman scams her with 2 durians for S$187
Later, a different man showed up at her door, claiming to be the vendor’s deliveryman.Based on her tastes, the man took out a Musang King durian from his bags that weighed around three kilograms. He also suggested that she purchase a small Black Thorn durian for her family to share.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Before he weighed them, the man cut the fruits open. He then claimed they weighed a total of 11.78 kg. He gave her a price of S$16 per kg, for a total of S$187.
Ms Chen was taken aback by the pricing. She questioned how a three kilogram durian could become over 11 with the addition of a second small one.
The man did not reply, only continuing to pack the fruits into a box for her.
Ms Chen then complained about the price, worrying that her husband would blame her for spending too much money.
The alleged deliveryman offered to cut the price down to S$150 if she treated him to a drink as well.
Source: thyegn on Canva, for illustration purposes only
Victim finds durians sour & unripe
Feeling pressured by the fact that he had already cut the durians open, Ms Chen gave in and paid him the S$150 through PayNow.She and her husband tried the durians together, only to find one sour-tasting and the other still unripe.
Ms Chen called the number on the note, but nobody picked up. Suspicious, she messaged into a residents’ group chat about a durian seller on the 15th floor, but no neighbours knew about him.
She subsequently realised that she had been scammed by someone pretending to be a resident and made a police report.
Another Punggol resident becomes victim of scam involving S$488 for five durians
A resident on the 16th floor claimed that somebody had also tried selling durians at her door a day prior to Ms Chen’s encounter. She suspected that he was the same person.Another neighbour uploaded CCTV footage of the same scammer doing his trick, but he did not purchase anything.
Others in nearby HDB blocks also came forward with their stories. One woman, who had the same price list, bought an alleged 36 kilograms of durian for S$488.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The deliveryman cut the durians open immediately after giving the supposed weight in order to force them to pay.
Featured image adapted from thyegn on Canva, for illustration purposes only, and Shin Min Daily News
