Family raises alarm after elderly woman unknowingly racks up S$5K bill at Bedok beauty shop
SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user took to r/asksg to share the story of an elderly woman who had inadvertently spent thousands of dollars at a beauty salon in Bedok.
Unfortunately, this is no longer an unusual situation.
For example, in June 2025, the Competition & Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) issued a statement about a particular brand of beauty salons that was found to have targeted elderly customers, with some ending up spending thousands of dollars. They had been charged for expensive services and packages that they had not asked for.
According to the Sep 23 post from u/thehappydodo, the elderly woman the post is about is over 70 years old and is illiterate. While the auntie was passing by the shops at Bedok Central leading towards POSB, she was approached by one of the employees of what the post author described as a “beauty products wholesaler business operating across several shopfronts.”
After she was offered samples, the auntie was brought into a particular shop.
“According to her, she did not request a facial and did not understand what was happening. She says she was sat down and given a facial, after which she was persuaded to purchase beauty products and prepaid sessions,” u/thehappydodo wrote.
They added that the auntie thought she had only paid S$3,000, for which she used cash, but when her family checked the receipt, they saw that she had spent another $2,000, as the total was actually S$5,000.
She said she did not know that the balance had been taken from her account via multiple NETS transactions
“She also did not understand exactly what she had purchased or how the total had reached $5,000,” the post author added.
Unlike other elderly individuals who have been victims of scams in Singapore, the woman was able to get a refund on the beauty shop expenses after her family personally went to the shop to ask for it.
“We are sharing this to raise awareness and remind families to speak to their elderly relatives about situations like this. Please remind your elderly parents and grandparents that they should not feel obligated to follow anyone into a shop simply because they are approached or offered samples, especially when they do not fully understand what is being offered or purchased.
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“It is perfectly fine to SAY NO AND WALK AWAY,” u/thehappydodo added.
This is the second such incident this week. In a recent Threads post, a woman wrote that her grandmother had lost around S$1,000 after agreeing to a S$10 massage. Like the family from the Reddit post, she has asked for a full refund. /TISG