S'porean, 32, allegedly gets Shopee account hacked, loses S$1,724, suffers depression

Since April 2025, 32-year-old Kayla (not her real name) has been "fighting a nightmare".

She's been in tears almost daily, her hair has fallen out from the stress, and she has been consumed by depression and anxiety.

The reason? A Shopee scam, and the resultant struggle she's faced trying to recover her stolen money.

Her boyfriend, who spoke to Mothership, said Kayla had attempted to take her own life at one point.

The scam

On Apr. 2, a hacker who possessed a foreign IP address allegedly illegally accessed Kayla's Shopee account and bought 13 digital codes in 30 minutes.

The codes were charged to Kayla's DBS PayLah account, and totalled S$1,724.

Afterwards, the hackers deleted the Shopee account.

Transaction records seen by Mothership showed the various purchases, which ranged from S$47.51 to S$382.

Two high-value transactions, of S$565 and S$764 respectively, did not go through.

After the first 13 successful transactions, all subsequent transactions failed to go through.

In total, five transactions failed and were listed as "cancelled".

Mothership understands that "cancelled" transactions occur due to limits in the associated bank account, and not due to Shopee's flagging system.

Digital codes refer to digital products that can be bought on Shopee, such as SIM cards, dining vouchers, and travel passes.

Told she would not be able to recover money

The subsequent months saw Kayla attempting to get back her stolen money.

She contacted over 10 customer service agents, but was repeatedly told that she would not be able to receive a refund as the orders had already been completed.

She also filed a police report.

Told to withdraw case

But when she decided to take the matter to the Small Claims Tribunal, Shopee's legal department sent her an email urging her to withdraw her case.

The reason, they said, was because of Shopee's terms of service: Disputes would have to be resolved through arbitration at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

They wrote:

"While we understand your frustration, we believe your claim against Shopee is without basis and misdirected for the reasons set out above [the terms of service].

Therefore, we encourage you to withdraw your claim at the Small Claims Tribunal voluntarily. Please let us know once the case has been withdrawn."

As opposed to the litigation process in the Small Claims Tribunal, which falls under the State Courts, arbitration is a private process.

According to the SIAC schedule of fees, parties must pay a S$3,270 filing fee, a S$5,000 administrative fee, and a S$5,000 arbiter's fee — a "financially impossible" measure for Kayla.

In contrast, it costs S$10 for an individual to file a similar in the Small Claims Tribunal.

Shopee's reply

In response to Mothership's queries, a Shopee spokesperson confirmed that the user has filed a case with the Small Claims Tribunal.

As a result, Shopee is unable to comment on the matter.

But the company is "cooperating fully with the process and committed to resolving the matter in good faith".

"We understand the difficulties this situation has caused the user and acknowledge the frustration they must feel," the spokesperson said.

"We recognise the personal impact that account takeover fraud can have on individuals. Protecting our users is a top priority, and we have in place robust security measures, including automated threat detection and prompt responses to reported issues.

We encourage users to take proactive measures to secure their online accounts both on Shopee and elsewhere."

The next hearing at the Small Claims Tribunal is scheduled for Aug. 26.

Top image from Pixabay