Singapore woman loses US$37,400 life savings after falling for durian scam
- The victim was left with only US$5 in her bank account after trying to buy cheap durians from a Facebook store
- A fake seller had offered her the spiky fruit for less than half its street price
The woman, surnamed Xu, saw a deal on a Facebook store offering the Mao Shan Wang durian variety for US$4.50 per kilogram and the D24 variety for US$2.25 per kilogram, Lianhe Zaobao, a Singaporean Chinese-language daily newspaper reported.
In December, the Mao Shan Wang durian, also known as Musang King, was priced at US$16 per kilogram, while the D24 variety was priced at US$12 per kilogram, local media outlet The Straits Times reported.
Attracted by the low prices, the 50-year-old woman contacted the durian seller on Facebook, called “TMZ Fresh,” on May 4 to place her order and find out what their delivery times were, per Zaobao.
The seller took down her phone number and said that she would hear from a member of their customer service team, Zaobao reported.
Soon after, Xu received a call from a man who instructed her to install a mobile application and enter her personal details to obtain membership, per Zaobao.
