April 19, 2024, 05:02 PM
A "woman" posted on a Facebook group called "Singapore blessing giveaway group", claiming she would be selling some things "cheaply" as she would be moving to Pulau Tekong.
Wait. Pulau Tekong?
What happened
A TikTok uploaded on Apr. 12, 2024, showed a screenshot of a Facebook post.
Image via TikTok/Boonwee24
A person who goes by the username "Katrina rose" apparently said she wanted to sell some items "cheaply" as she claimed she and her husband would be moving to Pulau Tekong.
The TikTok user pointed out that this raises the alarm that the offer was a scam.
For the uninitiated, Pulau Tekong is used by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) for military training and is generally restricted from public access.
It is also home to the Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC), where many Singapore Full-time National Servicemen (NSFs) go to train for the first months of their national service.
According to an article by Pioneer, Pulau Tekong was mainly occupied by farmers, fishermen, and shopkeepers selling various goods, with the population peaking at nearly 8,000 in the 1980s.
A National Library Board article said that by the end of 1980s, all of them had resettled on mainland Singapore.
But what's the scam?
While people in the video's comments and other social media posts pointed out that it was more than likely a scam, other than the shady choice of location, it was not readily apparent how the scam would work.
One Reddit user explained that the scammer would ask for money for delivery and then go incommunicado.
Top image via The Singapore Army/Facebook and Canva.
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