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Woman accused of using fake S$79.60 PayNow screenshot at Clarke Quay bubble tea shop
Nice try.
December 23, 2024, 05:16 PM
A woman allegedly scammed a bubble tea shop of a substantial amount of money with the help of a fake PayNow screenshot.
The shop, Yi Fang Taiwan Fruit Tea, shared with Mothership surveillance footage of the incident at their Clarke Quay Central outlet.
On Dec. 18, 2024, the woman was seen entering the shop just like any other customer.
Eyes trained on the menu, she appeared to hesitate for a bit before placing her order.
Gif via Yi Fang Singapore
Free bubble tea that was not free
The woman first leaned forward and rattled off her order.
Image via Yi Fang Singapore
She then presented her phone allegedly bearing the fake screenshot to the staff on duty.
Image via Yi Fang Singapore
She collected her order shortly after and strolled out of the door with her hands full of bubble tea.
Image via Yi Fang Singapore
It wasn't until she'd long disappeared that staff discovered something fishy about her payment.
"Upon reviewing the screenshot of the alleged PayNow payment, we noticed a visible marked-out area that erased the date and time stamp," a spokesperson for Yi Fang said.
The animation that typically appears around the tick icon after a successful payment was also missing.
Image via Yi Fang Singapore
"After double-checking, we can confirm that the payment was never received," the spokesperson said.
The company has since lodged a police report.
She looks kind of familiar
An individual who allegedly scammed an East Coat Road cafe in August 2024 utilised the same modus operandi by doctoring a PayNow screenshot for a S$272.25 bill.
She paid the bill after footage of her antics were made public.
It is not known if the person who was at Yi Fang was the same woman at the cafe.
Yi Fang highlighted their intention of flagging the incident, stating that they hoped to alert other businesses of a "serial scammer".
Top images via Yi Fang Singapore
