Woman accuses S'pore braised duck stall of contaminated food, demands compensation, turns out to be scam

An individual who allegedly accused a braised duck stall in Singapore of having fly eggs in its food was reportedly exposed for lying.

Lianhe Zaobao reported that the individual claimed to have visited the stall at 3pm when it closed at 1pm, and apparently could not name the food she bought.

Claimed food had fly eggs

Speaking to Zaobao, the 38-year-old hawker of Ah Xiao Braised Duck, Bai Ruihai (transliterated), received a text message and photo via WhatsApp on Aug. 16.

The text message from the supposed customer claimed there was a white object in the food suspected to be fly eggs.

In addition, the message demanded compensation from Bai, or a bad review would be posted online, and a complaint would be made to the authorities.

Bai did not check the message as he was busy at the time, he told Zaobao.

Shortly after, a woman calling with a Malaysia-registered phone number asked him to check the messages.

She reportedly spoke with a Chinese accent.

Stall closes at 1pm

He then pressed the woman for details about what she bought, the specific location and price of the food as he wanted to verify the incident's authenticity.

Zaobao reported that the woman supposedly could only name the eatery's location but not the stall name or specific food items.

Noting that his stall has CCTV cameras, Bai asked the woman to provide the time she visited his stall.

He said: "She said she visited around 3pm, but my stall only stays open until around 1pm. I close long before 3pm, so how could I possibly sell a food item with insect eggs?"

Woman reportedly blocked owner

Following this, the woman hung up and apparently blocked Bai.

Pointing out that he is relatively young and wary of scammers, he cautioned that some older vendors may be intimidated by complaints and extorted as a result.

A Facebook post in the "Hawkers United - Dabao 2020" group also warned other hawkers of the scam.

It stated that many hawkers list their contact numbers on social media, so it is not difficult to contact them.

The post added that the scammer would send a photo to the hawker's WhatsApp number, accusing them that their food is dirty and unhygienic.

The scammer would also allegedly claim to find flies or fly eggs on the food.

They would then demand compensation from the hawkers, or threaten to post reviews or complain to the authorities.

The post read: "Hawker friends please be vigilant. Do not be afraid if you did nothing wrong!"