S'pore cafe owner, 31, receives WhatsApp verification message from 'hotel staff' about overseas booking, gets scammed of nearly S$2,000

Summary by The Singapore Editorial Desk · Byline on the source page: Nicolas Wong, as published by Mothership · September 14, 2026 · 1 min read

A cafe owner in Singapore was scammed of his earnings in a mere half an hour after he received what looked like a card verification message on WhatsApp. Speaking to Mothership, Muhammad Shaqil, 31, shared that he received a WhatsApp message on Sep. 10 regarding a hotel booking for his upcoming w...

Sources and story details

Frequently asked about this story

What is this story about?

When was this published?

This article was first published on September 14, 2026 by Mothership and curated for The Singapore readers.

Who reported this story?

This story was reported by Nicolas Wong at Mothership. To learn more about how The Singapore selects and reviews stories, see our editorial standards.

Where can I find related coverage?

See more library coverage from The Singapore, or browse our daily briefing and topic hubs.

Summary created by	The Singapore Editorial Desk — automated, rule-governed
Byline on source page	Nicolas Wong, as published by Mothership
Original story	Read at the source
Source published	Sep 14, 2026
Indexed here	Sep 15, 2026
AI assistance	Automated summary drawn from the source’s own published text
Prepublication human review	No — editorial rules, flagged-item review, and published samples

More from The Singapore