Crowdfunders rush to the rescue after tourist caught in Singapore phone scam

Here’s another blow to the local tourism industry.

Singaporeans outraged by an electronics shop that left a Vietnamese tourist in tears after a phone-sale scam have raised thousands of dollars to compensate him, a crowdfunding site shows.

Factory worker Pham Van Thoai, 28, on Monday forked out $950 to buy a new iPhone 6 in the Sim Lim Square electronics mall, which has long been known to victimise tourists.

But employees of the "Mobile Air" store refused to allow him to leave with the phone unless he paid an additional $1500 in "warranty fees". He was eventually given a partial refund of $400, with no phone in hand, after police intervention.

A video widely shared on social media showed Pham kneeling down and begging the shop owner and employees for his full cash payment while they laughed at him.

Singapore media reports said Pham earns the equivalent of $A170 a month in Vietnam and had saved up for months to buy the latest iPhone for his girlfriend.

A crowdfunding campaign launched on the Indiegogo portal to buy Pham an iPhone 6 reached over $14200 by midday on Thursday, with more than 1400 donors.

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