We strongly hope all the kind people in Singapore will not be affected.
Below is an important announcement from Boys' Town.
Dear Benefactors, Friends and Partners of Boys' Town
It has come to our attention recently that there have been cases of youths who claim to be volunteers or boys from Boys' Town who are selling ice-cream in the streets and door-to-door.
We would like to clarify that Boys' Town has not endorsed such fundraising activity and if you have had any encounters with them, please do take down their particulars and inform us either via email at info@boystown.org.sg or call the Community Partnerships department during office hours at 67691618 so that we can inform others and the respective authorities on such activities.
There is currently no fund-raising initiative through the sale of ice-cream by Boys' Town.
Charitable organisations that are licensed to solicit funds in public would be granted a Collector's Certificate of Authority from the National Council of Social Service, or a copy of the police permit. If you are approached by any individual or group claiming to be soliciting funds for a charitable purpose, you can seek verification of the fundraiser's identity and the authenticity of the fundraising project by requesting to examine these documents.
If you are unsure of any fund-raising activity, please do not hesitate to contact us through the above email and phone number or if it is after office hours, please contact this number at 96234731 to check out the validity of the fund-raising activity.
Please do continue to support Boys Town as we seek your support and assistance in our work and mission to serve the boys who have been placed in our care.
We thank you for your support thus far.
Yours gratefully,
Irene Loi
Executive Director
Boys' Town
Source: http://www.boystown.org.sg
Do request for the identity card of the seller when in doubt!
In the event if we encounter such "ice-cream sellers", what do you suggest we do to counter them? (eg report to police or speak with our MP?)
ReplyDeleteHello Jessica, there's actually no perfect solution.
DeleteIt would be too late to speak to your MP. You have to wait for one or two weeks for the next meet-the-people-session. The MP can, however, write to the police division and they would definitely react. It would be too late then, since the scammers would have moved to another district.
You can try to call both the police and organisation they "represent" - in this case, boys' town.
They may not react fast enough anyway. Among the earlier blog entries, we have blogged about a fire extinguisher selling scam, and the police didn't even turn up for the case. Photo of the plump auntie scammer was submitted to the police but the resident hasn't received any news since.
It's up to the authorities to handle - if they bother. Just do our part will do!
Hi. I live at Boon Lay and within the past few days I've encountered 2 door-to-door "money grabs".
ReplyDeleteThe first was an Indian female around 5'6, with somewhat sweaty/oily face. She tried to sell me a photo frame for $10 and told me it was a charity for some organization(forgot what it is), organized by Ngee Ann Polytechnic. She even had a laminated paper with NP's logo on it. I gave her the $10 and refused the photo frame, then she told me she'd get a "receipt" for me, but she never returned.
In retrospect that was likely a scam but it didn't cross my mind.
The second was a pair of male Singaporean Chinese teens(I reckon are school drop-outs) with mouth piercing and dyed hair. Bought their $12.90 tub of ice-cream in fear that these hooligans would wreck our pots or steal our footwear if we refuse. This one's no donation.
Both occasions happened at around 10pm.
They just came to my home this evening; in Loyang.
ReplyDeleteThey also came last year; and my wife took pity on them....