A 28-year-old woman in Singapore thought she had managed to sell her branded Louis Vuitton bag on Carousell, but after receiving a "confirmation email" and being directed to an external site, was scammed of S$9,900 instead.
She said she was "lucky" that the bank managed to reclaim the lost sum within two days.
The victim, Lu Jiamin (transliterated from Chinese), told Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min) that after listing her Louis Vuitton bag for S$3,400 on Carousell on June 21, someone claiming to be an interested buyer contacted her on the app.
Said he was buying it for his mother
"He said he wanted to purchase the bag for his mother, and even provided an email address so I could send the pictures to her to take a look," Lu shared.
After Lu sent the photos of her bag to the "buyer", the "buyer" expressed that he was satisfied with the product.
He also told her that he had already paid the full amount via CarouPay, which is an in-app payment feature on Carousell.
However, Lu admitted that she was unfamiliar with CarouPay and had not set up the feature before.
Received a fake "confirmation email"
After receiving an email from a sender claiming to be from the Singapore Carousell team, she clicked on a "confirmation link" in the message.
The faux email from "Carousell Singapore" received by the victim. Image from Shin Min Daily News.
Following which, she was brought to an external site which resembled the Carousell homepage.
Asked to key in bank details to set up CarouPay
The page indicated that the "buyer" had already made payment, and instructed her to key in her bank details so she could set up CarouPay and complete the transaction.
The unsuspecting Lu complied with these instructions.
Unfortunately, she was later notified by her bank that a sum of S$9,900 had been transferred to an overseas account.
Immediately, Lu arranged with her bank to freeze her account and lower the transaction limit, and subsequently lodged a police report.
Bank refunded the money in full
Thankfully, Lu managed to get her money back shortly after.
The bank informed her on June 23 that the lost money had been reclaimed, and that it would be refunded to her in full.
Lu admitted that she was extremely lucky, as she knew of many scam victims who never got their money back.
Nevertheless, it was a learning experience for her.
"I learnt that this kind of Carousell scam is widespread in Malaysia, and only recently started making its rounds in Singapore," she shared.
"Hopefully, my experience will serve as a warning for others."
Top image from Shin Min Daily News.