Seafood wholesaler gets pranked by buyer who gave fake address for $2,000 order

He thought that a buyer was splashing out on Chinese New Year goodies, but the $2,000 order for seafood turned out to be a prank.

Max Kee, the owner of wholesale company Lian Huat Seafood, told Shin Min Daily News that a Facebook user named Raymond Tan had placed an order during his livestream sale last Tuesday (Jan 23).

The invoice showed that the customer had ordered several seafood items including sashimi-grade scallop, braised abalone, stingray steak for $2073.20.

The buyer had messaged the company the following morning, asking if he could pay for the items via cash on delivery.

According to Kee, the address provided was a residential unit located next to a courier services company. The buyer also requested for the items to be delivered after 4pm and instructed them to ring the doorbell.

"The courier thought that the order was odd, but he couldn't call to confirm the delivery as he didn't have the contact information of the other party," Kee recounted.

When the seafood was delivered to the address, however, the resident said they did not place the order.

It was then that Kee realised he had been pranked by the Facebook user. The seafood was subsequently returned to the company.

Apart from the canned abalone and canned sea asparagus, Kee had to resell the other fresh seafood items at a discounted price.

While the seafood wholesaler offers cash on delivery for elderly customers who are unfamiliar with online payments, Kee did not expect for someone to take advantage of it for a prank.

"While my loss is not significant, I hope that customers won't act in such an irresponsible manner," he said.

The owner added that he thought of filing a police report but later decided to not pursue the matter.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com