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An e-commerce grocery app in Singapore has come under fire after it distributed promotional mailers to some households informing them of its new "Goodwill Disbursement Credit vouchers" or "GDC" vouchers.

A HardwareZone user, who goes by the username CrucifyMyLove, took to the forum on Sunday (Aug. 7) to ask if anyone had also received the same letter.

Though the letter looked very similar to those sent by the various Community Development Councils (CDCs) in October 2021 and May 2022, the user pointed out that getting asked to download the "GaiGai Singapore App" — an online supermarket — to redeem the vouchers seemed very strange.

Misleading marketing

Its letter stated that the disbursement of these "GDC" vouchers were to celebrate Singapore's 57th birthday, and to "subsidise the recent increased cost of living".

To redeem these "GDC" vouchers, one has to download an app, and use the vouchers to offset part of their grocery purchases made via the app.

People were quick to point out that the scheme may very likely be a scam — as the marketing materials were designed to look like they came from a government agency.

They pointed out the misleading use of the Merlion in the letter, which may lead one to believe that the letter came from an official government source.

And of course — the name "GDC vouchers", which could easily be mistaken for the official CDC vouchers that were disbursed to every Singaporean household.

The format and style of the instructions on how to redeem the "GDC" vouchers were also very similar to CDC's materials.

A mandarin version of the instruction sheet was included:

For comparison, here is what the real CDC mailer looked like:

And the logo and illustrations from the CDC voucher website:

Police report allegedly made, e-commerce app apologies

Many urged the user to report the letter to the police, convinced that it was a scam.

The user subsequently provided an update to say they had made a police report and was in contact with the investigating officer of the case.

At around midnight on Monday (Aug. 8), the e-commerce app responsible for the marketing campaign, GaiGai Singapore, released a statement apologising for the confusion that it caused.

It clarified that the mailers, which were sent to residents in Hougang and Serangoon, were indeed sent by them and that they were a "legitimate business registered in Singapore".

It reiterated that it was not affiliated with any government body, and did not represent any government agency.

"We acknowledged that our GDC Voucher marketing campaign has misled certain residents into thinking that we are associated to the Government and we deeply apologise for that matter," it added.

It added that it had "sincerely" wanted to do its part to help ease inflationary pressures for Singaporeans, and that its S$55 vouchers were "indeed legitimate".

"Rest assured we are not scammers," it said.

Top photos via CrucifyMyLover/HardwareZone.