Florist & bakery both got bulk order from man claiming to be from ‘Bedok Camp’
At around the same time that a Tiong Bahru hawker stall was hoodwinked by a fake bulk order, two other businesses in Singapore were both ghosted after receiving similar bulk orders.
A florist and a bakery both said the man who made the fraudulent orders claimed to be from “Bedok Camp”.
Source: 8world News on Facebook
Florist receives bulk order purportedly from ‘Bedok Army Camp’
In a blog post on Wednesday (10 Sept), Kiki Florist said it received the “biggest order we’d ever had” at 3pm on 8 Sept.
It was for 150 small bouquets and four extra-large bouquets, to be ready for pickup in less than 48 hours.
The order was “massive — but exciting”, and could have been the “highlight of the year” for the business, it said.
The man who made the order claimed to be from “Bedok Army Camp” and it was a “corporate order from the Government”, but refused to make a downpayment.
He also did not confirm the order until 3pm the next day, when he offered S$2,200 cash upon collection of 100 bouquets.
Despite feeling “strange” about the situation, the florist bargained the order down to 50 bouquets for S$1,100, which he agreed to.
Man ghosts florist on collection day
The florist, which is located at KAP Mall in King Albert Park, got the bouquets ready on collection day, even turning down a few legitimate, smaller orders to prepare for the bulk order.
Source: Kiki Florist
The man assured them that his “men” would pick up the order and pay S$1,100.
However, three hours after the collection time, he called to say he would accept the order if they could provide 150 bouquets.
He then became evasive when reminded about the agreement and stopped responding.
It then became clear that they had been “led on”.
Florist manages to sell flowers at a discount
Co-owner Joselyn Lie, 21, told Channel NewsAsia (CNA) that the man seemed “very sincere”, and his WhatsApp profile photo was a man in apparent army uniform.
This was the first time such a situation had happened to them, she said.
Thankfully, the florist posted on an Instagram Story on Saturday (13 Sept) that it had managed to sell all the flowers it prepared at a discounted price.
Source: @kikiflorist_sg on Instagram
“A kind gentleman generously purchased the entire lot,” it said, adding that it would not accept further orders in connection with this incident as it does not wish to profit from it.
Similar incident happens to bakery in Jalan Besar
Days after the florist’s incident, Breaditation Bakery in Jalan Besar fell victim to a similar fraudulent bulk order.
In an Instagram Story on Saturday (13 Sept), it said it had been “scammed” by a person claiming to be an “army officer” who made the order but failed to collect it, claiming it was the “same person as the nasi biryani shop”.
Source: @breaditationbakery_sg on Instagram
They ended up stuck with the baked goods they prepared and appealed to the public for help.
Man makes bulk order from ‘Bedok Camp’, goes missing
In another Instagram Story, the bakery along Desker Road explained that a man named “Gordon”, claiming to be from “Bedok Camp”, ordered S$2,000 worth of baked goods.
However, he “went missing” at the time he was supposed to collect them, and did not answer their calls.
Source: @breaditationbakery_sg on Instagram
As it does not want the food to go to waste, the bakery is selling them at a discount and appealed to netizens to come by before 9pm.
Man claimed he needed to feed up to 120 for camp event
Speaking to 8world News, 62-year-old Mdm Zhuo Youdi (transliterated from Mandarin), a partner of the bakery, said she received the order at 2pm on Thursday (11 Sept).
The man claimed to be from the logistics team at “Bedok Camp”, and said he needed S$1,500 to S$2,000 worth of baked goods urgently.
In the WhatsApp conversation, he claimed that the camp was having an event on Saturday, but their original supplier could not fulfil the order, so they were looking to feed 100 to 120 people.
He would pick up the food by 5.30pm on Saturday, he added.
When Mdm Zhuo asked for payment in full, he said he could not apply for the funds immediately due to red tape, so she agreed to accept the order first out of goodwill.
The man who initially contacted her later transferred her to another man, claiming he had to train recruits.
Both men spoke to her in Mandarin, Mdm Zhuo said, and continued calling and texting her for two days, even asking her for the contact of a catering supplier.
Source: 8world News on Facebook
They also promised to pay S$2,000 in cash when they came to collect the food.
Bakery ghosted after spending 2 days preparing order
To fulfil the order, three of them spent the whole Friday baking from 6am to 9pm and even closed the shop from morning to afternoon on Saturday.
But the last contact she had with the second man was at 4.12pm on Saturday, after which he did not respond to calls or messages.
Nobody showed up in the end, with her employees realising that it was a fraudulent order when they read about similar incidents online.
Bakery sells off all the food at a discount
As the bakery does not have a refrigerator, they had to sell the food that same day or it would spoil, Mdm Zhuo said.
Thankfully, after posting an appeal on social media, it posted that it managed to sell all of it at a discount by closing time.
Source: @breaditationbakery_sg on Instagram
Mdm Zhuo said she had not filed a police report yet but was considering it.
Next time, she would definitely collect payment upfront, she added.
MINDEF says no evidence of SAF affiliation
The incidents with the florist and the bakery mean that there have been three incidents in one week of a fraudulent bulk order from someone claiming to be from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).
While the florist and the bakery said the person who made their orders claimed to be from “Bedok Camp”, Muhammad Shazain Faiha Muslim Food Paradise in Tiong Bahru Market said the person who ordered 150 packets of biryani just said he was an “officer” and did not specify which camp he was from.
The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) posted about the hawker stall incident on Facebook on Wednesday, saying there was “no evidence that these individuals are affiliated with the SAF”.
When CNA contacted MINDEF about the florist’s case, it directed CNA to the same Facebook post.
Also read: S’poreans Prank Food Delivery Riders With Fake Address, Hawkers Get No Payment For Bulk Order
S’poreans Prank Food Delivery Riders With Fake Address, Hawkers Get No Payment For Bulk Order
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Featured image adapted from Kiki Florist and @breaditationbakery_sg on Instagram.
