Local actress Kimberly Chia and her husband Vincent Yeo, owner of a cleaning service, were almost victims of a sophisticated scam amounting to nearly $16,000. Kimberly shared the details of the scam in a TikTok video posted on August 29, urging small business owners to be cautious.

In the video, the 29-year-old actress warned about the scam, which begins with someone posing as a teacher from a secondary school who contacts a business to request their services. After booking Yeo’s cleaning services, the alleged scammer reached out again the next day, asking for help with an unrelated matter. The scammer claimed that the school needed to purchase beds and provided a contact for Yeo to inquire about pricing—this was where the scam unfolded.

The scammer asked Yeo to assist with the urgent purchase of the beds, claiming the school was unable to make the transaction due to internal issues. In exchange, they promised Yeo a $30 commission for each bed. However, Yeo grew suspicious and asked for the payment to be transferred to him first. The scammer then sent a screenshot of an alleged bank transfer for $15,840, but the money never appeared in Yeo’s account.

Kimberly explained that this was the first red flag, as bank transfers and PayNow payments typically reflect in the account instantly. The scammer then tried to convince them that the funds were delayed due to approval needed by the Ministry of Education (MOE), buying time while applying pressure through frequent calls.

As the pressure mounted, the scammer and the “bed supplier” began insisting that Yeo make the payment immediately to complete the deal. They reduced the amount requested for a deposit, starting at $6,000 and dropping to $2,000, but Yeo refused to transfer any money. The scammer eventually threatened to cancel the cleaning service if the bed transaction didn’t go through.

Yeo contacted the secondary school to verify the story and was informed that similar scam attempts had been reported over the past seven weeks.

Kimberly emphasized how realistic the scam seemed, noting that it would be easy for someone who feels rushed to fall for it. “They don’t give you time to react and prey on business people hoping to earn quick cash,” she explained.

Several netizens shared their own experiences in the comments, with some recounting similar scams involving wheelchair orders for old folks’ homes or paint purchases for schools. One commenter mentioned that schools typically process payments through the Vendors@Gov system, not individual bank transfers.

On August 20, Minister of State for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development Sun Xueling attended a briefing on anti-scam efforts. The enhanced ScamShield app now includes a “Check for Scams” function, which uses AI to alert users of potential scam threats across various platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, and phone calls.