S'pore woman signs up for 'get-rich-quick' gig, loses over S$108,000

Hoping to make a quick buck, a woman signed up for a "get-rich-quick" gig after coming across a TikTok ad.

She was told that the shop ran on a "dropshipping" model and would require her to make advance payments for customers.

For her work, she would receive a commission for each order completed.

She was later told to commit more credit to her account before she was allowed to withdraw her earnings and even issued a S$30,000 fine for failing to fulfil orders on time.

The woman ultimately sank more than S$108,000 into the endeavour and resorted to borrowing from friends and family before she came to terms with the fact that she had fallen prey to a scam.

Successfully withdrew earnings for initial orders

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, the woman shared that she first came across the commission-paying scheme on TikTok.

After signing up, she was contacted by a man, named "William", on Oct. 18, 2025.

William explained to her that the job involved dropshipping, and that she would play the "middle man".

All she had to do was make advance payments for orders placed with an online store.

Once the transaction was completed, she would receive a commission and be compensated.

She then followed a link provided by William, set-up an account and created an online store.

"At the start, I received a few small orders worth a couple of hundred dollars. I made timely payments, and when the order was marked 'completed', I received my compensation and commission on two occasions," the woman recounted.

Payment amount kept increasing

However, the order value kept increasing over time, eventually reaching above S$10,000.

She invested all her savings, and borrowed from her friends, a credit company and the bank to fund the ever-increasing order values.

She also charged the payments to her credit card.

"I was under the impression that I would get my fair share once the transactions were done. However, when I wanted to withdraw my earnings, I would be told that I did not meet the time limit or credit requirements, and had to top-up before I could withdraw," the woman said.

Feeling like she had no choice, she proceeded with the top-ups, only to be issued a "penalty" for not fulfilling orders on time.

She was even fined S$30,000, and was told that the earnings in her account would be confiscated if she did not pay the fine.

The woman revealed that she sank a total of S$108,000 into the account, and has yet to recoup a single cent.

"Everyone around me told me that it was a scam. I was heartbroken that I could not get my money back. Even when I was suspicious, I remained in denial about it being a scam and hoped to get my money back," she said.

According to the woman, the e-commerce platform's "customer service" would provide website links for her to either top-up her credit or make withdrawals through cryptocurrency.

Once met William in-person

According to the woman, she met William once at a mall.

He is apparently a 36-year-old man from Penang, and is supposedly an architect in Singapore who did "dropshipping" on the side.

When she asked him about why she could not withdraw her earnings, William professed that nobody else faced such issues.

William also feigned generosity by offering to help the victim with the advance payments, on account that she was new.

She owed William about S$19,000 from the advance payments.

William allegedly told her that as long as she paid S$10,000 in fines, she would be able to get her money back.

The woman did not do so, under the advice of her friends and family.

When they asked William how they could get the money back, he claimed that he was overseas and did not offer a workable solution.

William could not be reached as of Dec. 10 morning, Shin Min reported.

Makes about S$2,000 a month from job

"I eventually went to the police after I repeatedly failed to recoup my money," she said.

"I only make about S$2,000 each month. All I can do now is to clear my debt bit by bit," she lamented.

The police confirmed with Shin Min that a report has been lodged and that investigations are ongoing.

Top image via Shin Min Daily News