MedicalLex: A Scam or a Legit Online Store Selling Surgical Masks? (With New Proof)

You’re a super kiasu Singaporean who somehow believe that wearing surgical masks even when you’re well is the best defence again the nCoV (which is wrong, by the way).

You’ve been to almost every healthcare shops in Singapore to queue for a box of masks but just couldn’t get one. It turns out that your experience with Hello Kitty didn’t come in handy now.

You go online, willing to pay any price for a box of masks, but every online shop is sold out, too.

Damn it, you think. I’m going to get infected.

(Which you won’t, FYI)

Then you go Facebook and was about to write your own eulogy when you came across an advertisement by a Facebook Page called Medicallex.

The name sounds professional, and the best-est of all?

They sell surgical masks. House-brand somemore.

You go online and see that there’s a “queue”…even online.

But it’s okay, you tell yourself. I’ve queued in Guardian and Unity before. This is nothing!

Soon, it’s your turn.

Because you’ve queued for so long, you immediately bought a few boxes even when the prices are rather high, at $28.99 per box.

You pressed the checkout button and saw a countdown button.

The price has increased to a whopping $58.25 if you opt for express shipping, which you’d receive it in 2 to 5 working days, despite the warning there that states “If you order today, it’ll be dispatched within 4 weeks.”

No time to think!

As the countdown continues, you panic and ta-da: You’ve just spent over SGD$75 for a box of masks.

Reader Bao: Wait, you said it’s $58.25

Oh, it’s in USD.

Reader Bao: SIMI!? Is that why people are making police reports?

I’m glad you’re finally reading the headline, but no; there are many other reasons.

Medicallex: An Online Store Selling Masks or a Scam?

If you’ve been on Facebook recently, you’d have seen a Medicallex advertisement.

The design of their page and website look professional; heck, even the name of the company sounds atas.

But the folks at Hardwarezone forums don’t think so.

Now, for a start: public records show that its Facebook Page was just created six days ago, on 5 February 2020.

And its website?

It went live on 4 February 2020.

In their About page, they listed their address in the US, and our BFF Google tells us that the address is a PO Box.

Maybe the company is run by ants working inside a PO box lah I don’t know.

Of course, people were complaining that they had a whopping “70,000 happy customers”, and even had good reviews online, when it’s six days old “business”.

Someone from Hardwarezone has bought a box (or many boxes) and made a police report soon after.

But hey: maybe the goods would eventually arrive? Willing buyers, willing sellers, right?

Well, over in Malaysia, it’s even more serious.

25 Reports Made Against Medicallex

Up north, the police has received at least 25 reports about this, with a total of about RM460,000 spent (about SGD$153K).

According to Sin Chew Daily, some people have paid up but have yet to receive the masks.

However, there are people praising and giving good reviews on their posts, though netizens believe they are fake accounts.

Reader Bao: Fun fact: Do you know you can buy fake Facebook accounts to comment and view your contents? And they look super real seh though I heard that you have to key in the comment—

Yes, I know, Mr Bao.

But moving on.

A Story of How a Woman in KL Bought The Mask from Medicallex

So you think the “story” I’ve written in the beginning of this article isn’t real.

You’re both right and wrong.

It’s a fake account based on a true story.

A woman in KL was convinced that it’s a legit page after seeing how the Page has responded to questions—not to mention that there are positive feedback on the page, too.

And so, the 23-year-old “queued” for a few minutes, and when she was in, she immediately bought five boxes.

She didn’t even know if the prices are in RM or USD; with the countdown that created a sense of urgency, she immediately bought it.

And ta-da: she just spent RM869 (about SGD$289) for five boxes of masks.

That’s SGD$57.8 for a box. They’d better be made of gold.

Well, she might receive the boxes since she just ordered the items. Who knows. 70K happy customers can’t be wrong.

But what irked her is that when she tried to comment on the Facebook Page, her comment was allegedly deleted.

Medicallex’s Response

With such allegations, you can bet that Medicallex will respond.

Reader Bao: But scammers never respond—

Shut up, Mr Bao.

Here’s Mediciallex’s response to the allegations:

DELAY

– Some claim that they have never received the MedicalLex™ products and these are absolutely false claims. On our website, we clearly state the days required for delivery on checkout as well as on the confirmation email that orders are yet to be dispatched.

In line with this, there is no single order that has been delayed up to this moment. In the event of any delay, we’re always able to notify and take action ahead of time for our customers.

DISPATCH

– All orders purchased since February 04th are served with this distinctive red notice below during checkout (refer to attached).

“Important Note: MedicalLex™ face masks are very limited. We’re operating twice as fast to meet the needs of everyone, so we urge customers to place orders the soonest since we’re on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you order today, your order will be dispatched within 4 weeks.”

If anyone has placed an order on or earlier than January 10th (4 weeks ago) and are yet to receive their product, please provide your order number as well as the screenshot below and contact us immediately.

Finally, we reserve our right to press legal action against anyone who defame our brand without further proof of claim.

Reader Bao: Eh, they got operate in January one seh!

Anyways, just 12 hours ago, they also posted a Facebook post showing that they had indeed ordered 100K masks from Germany and Ukraine.

Reader Bao: Oh, got some cert one, even ISO, should be legit, right?

That’s when a reader contacted Goody Feed and it turns out that it’s…erm…complicated.

Notice the nice-looking and legit logo on the cert? Apparently, it’s alleged that it’s used without permission.

Reader Bao: Eh, don’t anyhowly write leh! They say they will sue one leh! I hate you a lot but I still want to read stupid articles from you guys one leh!

Firstly, we do need more paper in the office because we’ve run out of toilet paper after many people hoarded all the supplies from supermarkets. And secondly, there is proof:

Lest you can’t read, here’s what is written:

We are a certification body from Switzerland.

You post a certificate without company name on your Facebook, you abuse a trademarked symbol, delete it straight away.

You are not certified from us.

https://www.facebook.com/104712277768007/posts/111132310459337/?d=n

Confirm my mail, thank you.

Getting more exciting, isn’t it?

But wait, there’s more.

The folks at The Wacky Duo also found out something.

Here, take a look:

According to The Wacky Duo, the image on the right is a listing on Shopee.

Reader Bao: Wow, they use the same photographer and designer seh!

Right, that’s a plausible explanation.

So, do you still want to be a kiasu Singaporean? Then you know where to go.

If not, just keep those Government-issued masks at home and use them only when you’re sick lah.