Cute toilet roll? Pay $700 scam toll

Granddad, in his sixties, scammed after online offer

- By KINTAN ANDANARI

It took Mr Kamal, who is in his sixties, around two weeks to realise that scammers had his credit card details.

He was drawn to an online advertisement for toilet rolls in late October 2024. Mr Kamal, who declined to give his full name citing privacy concerns, could not recall if it appeared on Facebook or Instagram.

What caught his eye was the bear-patterned packaging on each individually-wrapped roll, says Mr Kamal, who works in the public sector. A pack had cost $9. He does not remember how many rolls were in a pack.

He thought the cute design would cheer his two granddaughters, both under five, during their weekly visits to his Choa Chu Kang Housing Board flat.

Mr Kamal clicked on the ad. It looked legitimate, he says, and the offer was fairly priced.

"A popup appeared and I was prompted to autofill my personal particulars (including address) and payment details," he says.

Autofill features on smartphones insert stored information into data fields. Mr Kamal only had to enter the credit verification value, or the security code printed behind his credit card, before completing the transaction, he adds.

The toilet rolls never arrived.

About two weeks later, someone claiming to be a bank officer called to ask if he had bought anything in Australia. The caller warned that his credit card details might be compromised and asked if he wanted to cancel it.