{
  "id": 12128215,
  "title": "S'porean woman, 73, on Yunnan tour gets pressured to pay almost S$2,000 for herbs, files report but vendor nowhere to be found",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/05/sporean-woman-73-on-yunnan-tour-gets-pressured-to-pay-almost-s-2-000",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-05T10:36:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mothership",
    "slug": "mothership",
    "url": "https://mothership.sg/2026/10/woman-yunnan-traditional-medicine-scam-2000/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A 73-year-old woman from Singapore was on a tour of Xizhou Old Town in Yunnan, China, when she encountered a street vendor selling traditional medicinal herbs. The seller allegedly pressured her into purchasing an almost S$2,000 worth of the herb, claiming that they had already ground it into powder and would not let her back out of the transaction. Despite returning to the location with the police to find the sellers, they were nowhere to be found. The woman, whose name is Lee, later realized that she had paid a significantly higher amount than she believed. She reported the incident to the authorities upon returning to Singapore and has also sent the powder to the Singapore Food Agency for testing. Lee advised travelers to exercise caution and avoid purchasing from street vendors.",
  "summary": "She came across the vendor at a lunch spot while heading to a tourist attraction.",
  "key_points": [
    "73-year-old Singaporean woman pressured to pay S$2,000 for herbs in Yunnan.",
    "Seller claimed herbs were pre-ground, refused return.",
    "Lee reported incident to authorities, sent herbs to Singapore Food Agency."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}