A woman scanned a QR code at Jollibee for a free ice cream, only to find she had subscribed to a service that charged her $7.99 on her Singtel bill.

In a Facebook post on Saturday (November 9), user Andy Quek shared his wife’s distressing experience at a Jollibee store in Waterway Point on November 1. He said she scanned a QR code placed at the counter that promised free. ice cream in exchange for completing a survey.

After entering her phone number, however, she discovered she had inadvertently subscribed to a mobile service, resulting in an unexpected $7.99 charge on her Singtel bill.

Despite immediately canceling the subscription, the charge still appeared on the account, prompting Quek to take further action.

Quek later contacted Jollibee’s management on Facebook and Instagram and filed a police report.

According to screenshots provided in the Facebook post, Jollibee acknowledged the complaint and said it would investigate the matter.

The post later added that after contacting Singtel, Quek was offered a one-time waiver of the subscription fee, but declined, saying he would take up the matter with Jollibee.

“Meanwhile, I contacted Singtel. They said they can make a one-time waiver. However, this is not fair and unethical as Singtel will absorb the fee and the “scam” company will still be paid. Thus, I have asked Singtel not to drop the charge and I will go after Jollibee, I have already made a police report,” Quek wrote.

Several netizens who commented on the post stated that from the uploaded photo, it appeared that another QR code may have been pasted over the original QR code.

One commenter also said that the site users were taken to after scanning the faulty QR code was “full of red flags”, pointing out that this is not the first time such scams have been perpetrated.

AsiaOne reached out to Jollibee and Quek for more information.

A woman lost $20,000 after scanning the QR code

In May 2023, a 60-year-old woman was the victim of a scam after scanning a QR code on a sticker at a bubble tea shop promising a free cup of milk tea for completing an online survey.

She downloaded a third-party app to participate, which allowed scammers to take over her phone, leading to a theft of $20,000 from her bank account.

The Singapore Police and Cyber ​​Security Agency have warned the public against downloading apps from suspicious sources as they may introduce malware that compromises sensitive data, including banking details.

In 2022, the police too warned against scanning QR codes sent through unofficial channels following a spate of online survey scams tricking victims into scanning Singpass QR codes. This allowed fraudsters access to their digital accounts.

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