A Facebook user named Karen Ong warned others of a scam that was occurring in the heartlands recently.

Referring to a Lianhe Wanbao report from November last year on what could likely be the same scam, Ong's post has been shared more than 7,000 times.

What is this scam about?

According to the Wanbao article Ong posted, a group of people are going around Singapore setting up makeshift stalls to sell goodie bags.

This doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, but their marketing ploy is nothing short of bizarre.

The salespeople manning the stalls use three main tactics to get customers to "buy" goodie bags that are supposedly free:

1) Entice people with "freebies"

First, these salespeople would claim openly that they were giving out free “goodie bags” and gifts in order to attract a crowd.

2) Strike up conversations with those who approach the stall

With the crowd gathered, they would usually speak in Cantonese, cracking jokes and trying to befriend those among the crowd -- usually middle-aged and elderly folks.

3) Making the bizarre sales pitch

Then comes the crux of the marketing spiel.

Once everyone’s chummy and cool with each other, the salespeople would then show them the "free" goodie bags, which supposedly contain items such as stockpots and shower heads, among several other things.

But the goodie bags aren’t exactly free.

The gathered crowd would be asked for a "favour" to give money in exchange for the goodie bags to prove their “sincerity” in helping to promote the products.

Passionate response from the gathered crowd

Here’s one exchange translated from Wanbao between a salesperson and a crowd gathered at one of the stalls:

Salesperson: If I give you guys these stockpots, will you help me to spread the word?”

Crowd: “Yes, we will!”

Salesperson: “Do you sincerely mean it?”

Crowd: “Yes, really!”

Salesperson: “Then, are you willing to give us a little bit of money to show your sincerity?”

Crowd: “Yes, willingly!”

S$99 goodie bag turned out to be worth only $50

Those who end up buying the goodie bags would find themselves overpaying for the products in the goodie bags.

According to an auntie quoted in Wanbao, she paid $99 for her goodie bag, but found out later on that the items in her bag only cost around $50.

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Similar experience

In her Facebook post on the scam, Ong describes something similar to the scam highlighted in the Wanbao report, noting how the salesperson first enticed the crowd with freebies and showed them the items from the “free” goodie bag.

Shortly after, the crowd was told to raise their wallets, to shell out S$100 to pay for a goodie bag that was marketed to them as free.

Ong said she was stunned by how the salespeople were able to make the crowd react so passionately and willingly give them large sums of money.

Possible Places of operation

Wanbao notes that Chinatown, Toa Payoh and Bukit Panjang are possible venues for the group to set up shop, but Ong’s Facebook post also mentions that they've been seen in places such as:

• Woodlands
• Teck Whye
• Redhill
• Yuhua market
• Ang Mo Kio
• Serangoon North
• Hougang north
• Bishan
• Simei
• Bedok
• Jurong West market
• Punggol
• Boon Keng
• Bendemeer
Yew Tee
• Clementi
• Bugis

Be sure to warn your parents, grandparents relatives from such a group, and to not listen to such marketing spiel, lest they end up paying for a “free” goodie bag they don’t really need.

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Top image adapted from Wikipedia and pixabay.