Imagine yourself in the mother’s shoes when she realized that her son had pulled a scam on multiple people.
How heart-wrenching it was.
The worse part was she had to even apologize for her son’s behaviour when the people he scammed came knocking on her door.
Scammed Potential Tenants of Their Deposit and Rent
One of the potential tenants, 23-year-old Ms Luo JingTing (罗静婷), told the reporter that she saw an ad on Facebook on 27 April this year advertising a four-room HDB flat at Yishun Ring Road Block 388 for rent.
The rent costs only S$2,300 per month.
Knowing a deal when she saw one, Ms Luo immediately contacted the person who posted the ad, whom she assumed is the landlord, to inspect the unit.
When arrived, a 24-year-old young man greeted them.
He claimed that the unit was owned by his mother and that he can handle the renting matters on his mother’s behalf.
To entice the potential tenants, the man promised to lower the rent to only S$2,100 per month if they immediately pay the one-month deposit as well as the first month’s rent.
The man was very insistent and Ms Luo made up her mind – she decided to rent the unit and will be moving into the place on 1 June.
She also transferred S$1,000 to the man first.
However, the next day, the man contacted her again to get more money.
This time around, he fabricated a heartbreaking story of how he urgently needed the money to pay for his cancer-riddled mother’s medical expenses.
Ms Luo pitied the young man and gave him another S$2,100.
The Mother Found Out About Her Son’s Scam
On 31 May, Ms Luo confirmed the move in with the man, but he ghosted her.
He only replied to her at 9:40pm and told her that he’s not renting out the unit anymore.
Ms Luo found this ridiculous – and rightly so – so she and a friend went to the unit to discuss the matter with the man.
The man eventually confessed that he just wanted to get some money to gamble online; he has no intention of renting out the house.
At that time, the man’s elderly mother was at home.
Once she realized what her son had done, she tearfully knelt down in front of Ms Luo and her friend to apologize on her son’s behalf.
“We didn’t want to make his mum feel bad, so we left. That very night, the man actually returned our money to us, but his scam had forced us to stay at a hotel for two weeks. Those expenses aren’t exactly small.”
The Scammer Refunded the Deposit Money to The Potential Tenants
The young man, Mr Chen, admitted to signing two rental contracts, but he has also said that he has refunded both potential tenants of their money.
He claimed that initially, he really wanted to rent out the house, but had changed his mind due to “personal reasons”.
Seriously, who is he fooling?
When pressed further by the reporter, Mr Chen refused to talk further about it.
“I’ve notified the tenants in advance about the cancellation of the contracts and that I’ve returned all the deposits and rent advances to them, so I’m not sure why they are still bothering me.”
He added, “Luo JingTing also asked me to pay her one month’s rent as compensation for her hotel stay, which I think is unreasonable.”
Ms Luo claimed that the man had agreed to compensate her one-month rent’s worth but it seems like this man changed his mind a lot.
Regarding the accusation that he scammed the tenants of their money to gamble, Mr Chen strongly denied the claims, saying that, “If I really needed the money to gamble, where would I find the money to refund the tenants?”
Featured Image: Google Maps