SINGAPORE - A Facebook page claiming to be that of Plaza Singapura has been flagged after it gained traction online by promoting the sale of Labubu figurines at a discount.
Shoppers were urged to click on a link to buy “The Monsters Fall In Wild Series” – a limited edition plush toy by Pop Mart – at a discount.
The scam page, which showed a photo of a crowd outside a toy store, claimed that customers queued for up to six hours at the Pop Mart store in Plaza Singapura on Nov 11 to purchase the dolls.
But the photo does not appear to have been taken in Singapore.
The page also said that due to “unexpectedly high demand”, not all those who queued were able to buy the dolls, and provided a link for customers to purchase them at $89 each.
Priced at $109.90 on the official Pop Mart website, the doll is currently sold out online and at Pop Mart stores in Singapore, with resellers charging up to $200 for each doll.
The character went viral globally when South Korean girl band Blackpink’s Lisa first posted photos of herself with Labubu in April.
The toy has since flown off shelves, with fans willing to pay double to snag it from resellers.
Adding a link to an external site, the post on the scam page read: “To ensure everyone has the opportunity to own this limited edition item, Pop Mart Plaza Singapura will open online sales on its official website, where customers can still enjoy the promotional offer.”
The link leads to a page asking users to key in their credentials to buy it.
On Nov 14, a Plaza Singapura spokesman said it is aware of parties fraudulently impersonating the mall on social media.
“These accounts are not related to Plaza Singapura or CapitaLand in any way. We have since reported the case to Meta and have also lodged a police report,” he said. Meta owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
He urged shoppers to visit Plaza Singapura’s official website for events and promotions at the mall.
In the first half of 2024, scam victims in Singapore lost a record high of over $385.6 million. During this period, the number of cases increased by 16.3 per cent to 26,587, from 22,853 during the first six months of 2023. About 74 per cent of all scam victims were below the age of 50, with most falling for e-commerce scams.
E-commerce scams were the top scam of concern in the first half of 2024, with 7,250 cases reported and at least $8.6 million lost.
In Singapore, more than $2.7 billion has been lost to scams since 2019.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.
