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One man's shopping deal turned sour after receiving a straw instead of the new Samsung phone that he had ordered online.

Zhang, 53, told Chinese media Shinmin Daily News (Shin Min) that he wanted to take advantage of the platform's 10.10 sales to get a new phone for his wife.

He had been eyeing a Samsung phone the week before, and decided to make the purchase during the sale.

According to Shin Min, Zhang paid S$447 for the phone, which was S$180 less than the retail price in stores.

After he received the parcel, Zhang saw that the package was small and flat, and sensed that something was not right.

After opening the package, he was dismayed to find that there was nothing but a black bubble tea straw inside.

Decided to try the new Lazada seller

According to Zhang, the seller whom he transacted with on Lazada was a new seller, and he had doubts about the veracity of the listing.

"I sent a picture to my friend to check with him, and he didn't find any issue with the listing. Only then did I decide to try buying from the store. As it turns out, it was a scam", Zhang lamented.

Zhang said that he has reached out to Lazada for help, but has yet to hear back from them.

As such, he made a police report.

The police shared that they were investigating the case, Shin Min reported.

Pretended to be a real store

Despite the lack of reviews left on the listings, Zhang shared that he let his guard down after noticing that the seller was branded as an actual retail store.

Perhaps the store was having a clearance sale, Zhang thought to himself.

After he was scammed, he went onto the seller's page again and found out that there were five other reviews which described the same experience he was going through.

According to Shin Min, the seller which Zhang transacted with can no longer be found on Lazada.

Zhang also told Shin Min that after this experience, he has resolved to only procure phones from physical retail stores from now on.

Other scam listings found

Mothership found some listings on Lazada that were uploaded by a seller which appeared to be passing off as a real mobile store. The seller has a generic username.

The listings appeared to mimic the design of actual listings by local retailer, Mobile Square, which has a physical store in Far East Plaza.

Mothership understands that Mobile Square is not involved in Zhang's experience.

However, it has received similar feedback in the past about online listings that mimicked its own.

The listing by the suspicious seller is S$426 cheaper than the one by Mobile Square.

On its page, it had a wide range of phones for sale, most of which had no reviews.

Mobile Square has also posted a notice on their Facebook, warning customers of the scam and pointing customers to their official store on Lazada.

Top image via Shinmin Daily News