For those who look for good deals online, do take note

For many (including myself) who are on the look out for good and genuine deals online, this is a personal story that I would like to share with you. This posting is not meant to deter you from getting good deals but more of creating awareness. This is a lengthy post but I felt it is important for me to share this so if you do not have the patience to read on, I wish you good luck.

I have always been a look out for good deals online when it comes to stuffs (branded bags, accessories etc etc) because I am someone who can accept 2nd hand stuffs as long as the item is in good condition or in a condition that I can accept (factoring in the $ I am paying). As so you know, that doesn't means I am ok to pay $200 for a Chanel wallet because that is just plain impossible. I am looking for that 10% - 20% savings for brand new items that can usually be obtained if you get some tax savings etc.

One month ago on 23 Nov 2013, I saw a thread on deluxemall.com selling a pair of brand new Chanel earrings for $250. I have checked out the price at the boutique at Takashimaya and it retails for around $320, if I remember correctly. Comes with full set (box, paper bag and receipt). I PM-ed (private message) the seller expressing interest and 'she' contacted me on the deal. 'She' confirmed that it's brand new and comes with full set of stuff at $250 so voila, I decided to go for it. However, 'she' don't do meet up as she said the price is low but 'she' will mail it out via registered mail after receiving my bank transfer. This should set warning bells for me but I was stupid enough to go ahead with the deal. 'She' further gave me a 'bundled promo' if I were to get the simple Chanel necklace that was posted for sale too. Retailing at ard $370, I can get it for $300 since I am purchasing the earrings as well. Cheapo streak in me strike and I went for the deal of Chanel earrings and necklace for $550. Transfer of $550 was made on 24 Nov 2013 and to date, I received nothing (products or money refund).

Multiple follow ups have been raised by me over the next few days after transfer and you can see from the screenshoots of my Watsapp conversation with 'her' that 'she' has 1001 excuses.

Sent on 25 Nov 2013

Sent on 26 Nov 2013

Sent on 27 Nov 2013

The last straw came when I messaged 'her' on 29 Nov 2013 to confirm our meet up on Sat, there was no reply. Feeling uneasy, I went back to deluxemall.com and found this thread. The phone number and bank account number ( I boxed out in blue) is the same as the seller I have been liasing with.

If you have the time, check out the links in the thread and you can see this MAN (and not lady) that he protrays himself to be is born in 1994 (only 19 years old this year) and has started scamming since 3 years ago. I send him a threatening note after reading this and finally I got his reply.

Of course, he did not fulfil his promise by refunding me at 1pm the next day and a police report was made.

To cut the long story short, from 30 Nov 2013 until today before this posting was made, this cheat has 'promised' to refund me my $550 again and again and of course each time he will have 1001 excuses. One classic one is that MINDEF haven't paid him his NS pay on 10 Dec 2013 and have to wait. Well....... we are talking about MINDEF here, not some unknown sole proprietor company, do you think this is possible??? Or he will say he hasn't book out of camp because he is rushing some reports (sound damn intellectual lor). I felt that I have wasted enough time on this bastard that I think enough is enough told him that I will give my full cooperation to the relevant authorities (MINDEF and Police) to make sure he get caught.

I also got PMs from some other victims and apparently, Desmond Yeo is not exactly a stupid idiot. He was able to create multiple accounts in Deluxemall to continue his scams. There are victims who got scammed by him via Facebook. Honestly, I do not believe he operate alone looking at the number of phone numbers and bank accounts he has, so we might be looking at a team. In fact, when I asked why can't he refund me back the money from the account I transferred to, he said that account is not his, and just yesterday the Investigative Officer called me to update me on his findings and confirmed this fact.

From this scam experience, I have learnt a few important lessons:-

1) ALWAYS do face to face meet ups on such deals. Whether you agree to mail orders or not will all depends on your comfort level.

2) Victims, please stand up and make the police reports if you have been scammed. I know it might be embarrassing for you for whatever reasons, but only through the collated efforts by the victims to make the reports can the police be aware of the severity of the situation and conduct their investigation. I have followed up with the Investigative Officer of this case and he said including myself, 4 reports have been lodged on scam and money have been transferred to the same account. Police's definition of severe: 3 reports or more.

3) Victims who are lucky to get the money back..... please wake up your selfish idea and don't go quiet just because you got your $ back. You are not doing the rest of the victims or potential victims a favour at all. All you are doing is condoning the crime of this cheat and he will never be punished.

4) The police force will take time to investigate as they look at facts so we have to live with it that the case will not be closed so soon.

As I mentioned earlier, this posting is not meant to deter anyone from getting good deals online. I just want to share my personal experience so that we can still continue to get good purchase while staying vigilant.