• Marc Tay Yi Jie orchestrated e-commerce, loan and camera rental scams
• He cheated 24 victims of about S$33,000 until he was caught in April 
• One woman who thought she was buying supermarket vouchers was cheated of S$1,625

SINGAPORE — Homeless after being disowned by his parents, Marc Tay Yi Jie turned to scams to pay for his food and accommodation in backpackers’ inns, dormitories and hostels.

Capitalising on the Covid-19 crisis, the 25-year-old unemployed Singaporean began selling items such as NTUC FairPrice supermarket vouchers, surgical masks and hand sanitiser on online marketplaces Carousell and Facebook Marketplace. 

However, he never had these items. 

He also ran loan and camera rental scams. In all, he cheated 24 people of S$32,928 before he was arrested on April 8.

Tay was on Thursday (Sept 24) sentenced to two-and-a-half years’ jail.

He had earlier pleaded guilty in court to nine counts of cheating. Another 18 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that in 2017 and 2018, he served short jail terms for offences such as theft in a dwelling and attempted housebreaking. 

From April 2018, he stayed at a halfway house for a few months. 

He then got financial support from a church acquaintance who loaned him money for his daily lodging, meals and transport.

Tay ended up swindling the 61-year-old man of at least S$11,000 over several months. 

He lied that he was working for firms such as Amazon and Sembcorp, claiming they were withholding his wages and he could not repay the older man’s loans.

The man fell for the ruse, believing Tay would repay him after getting his wages. Giving various excuses, Tay repeatedly delayed doing so.

Tay has so far repaid the man about S$1,000, but has not returned all the other sums he cheated.

PAID MORE THAN S$1,600 FOR 320 VOUCHERS

In March this year, Tay decided to cheat people online by selling essential items that the community needed to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

When buyers indicated their interest to buy the advertised items, Tay told them to pay a deposit or make full payment through electronic payment services PayNow or PayLah.

A 53-year-old woman transferred S$640 to Tay for 30 bottles of hand sanitiser and 58 boxes of surgical masks. 

After he gave excuses for the delayed delivery, she arranged to meet him at Kovan MRT Station, but he never showed up.

Another woman transferred a S$400 deposit for 300 bottles of sanitiser, 66 boxes of masks and 19 thermometers.

In early April, Tay cheated a 49-year-old woman of S$1,625 over what he claimed were 320 NTUC FairPrice vouchers. She had seen his listing for discounted S$10 vouchers on Facebook Marketplace.

She wired the money to him on three occasions, but he made up excuses that his courier could not be contacted before ignoring her.

He derived about S$5,000 from his e-commerce scams.

CAMERA RENTAL SCAM

Separately, late last year, Tay managed to rent camera equipment by using images of his National Registration Identity Card that showed his parents’ address. He no longer lived with them. 

He had removed a sticker on his identity card showing his new address — the halfway house — as he thought that was why another camera rental store had rejected his earlier application to rent equipment.

After seeing his parents’ address, the director of the rental company allowed him to lease a Canon 5D Mark 4 camera and two lenses, valued at S$6,000, without collecting a deposit.

Tay rented them for S$306 for three days, but later sold them to photography shops at Peninsula Plaza for S$1,500.

When the company tried to reach him via phone and social network Instagram, he ignored and blocked their calls and messages.

Shortly afterwards, he used the same approach with another camera rental company, selling their equipment off for S$1,700.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Tongyi said that a deterrent sentence was warranted because Tay had exploited an increase in demand for masks, thermometers and sanitiser, and “sought to profit at the expense of victims seeking to protect themselves and their loved ones”.

For each cheating charge, he could have been jailed up to 10 years and fined.