OLD-school shoppers don't trust greasy-looking salesmen.

But with online shopping, you often don't even get to meet the seller.

Naomi Kurashige, 17, had a good reputation for getting discounts from overseas suppliers for local buyers.

Most of her customers had never met her but they had no qualms about wiring her hundreds of dollars in orders.

Today, there are over 40 police reports against her because $35,000 in orders went "missing".

Police said they are investigating.

People like Naomi are the middlemen in an online shopping method known as spree shopping.

Her job is to hook up with overseas suppliers and then send out alerts to potential buyers here enticing them with discounts.

Customers like shopping this way because they save on shipping.

That's when things go well.

For a few months, Naomi made a profit. Then things went horribly wrong.

She claimed that after receiving money from customers here, she wired $35,000 to a UK supplier. But he went missing, and so did the money.

Ignored

She now has two petitions against her and has been flamed on several blogs on Livejournal.com and forums, including Cozycot.com and Hardwarezone.com.

Some online shoppers have accused Naomi of collecting money from them, but not delivering their purchases.

Naomi had organised numerous online sprees under her online nickname, Insert-itemname. In just a few months, she collected about $35,000 for the sprees.

Then her customers waited. But nothing was delivered.

One shopper, Miss Michelle Goh, 23, a project manager, said she paid Naomi about $600 in September for clothing orders from various online retailers such as American Apparel and Urban Outfitters.

She said: "Before I placed an order with Naomi, I did a search about her online. I checked feedback about her and it was okay at the time.

"I don't know how things turned so nasty in just a couple of months."

When nothing was delivered, she claimed she wrote to Naomi but her e-mails were ignored.

Miss Goh added: "I got worried. Then she started sending mass e-mails about refunds, but the refunds never came."

Another participant, Miss Pearlyn Yeo, 23, joined another spree organised by Naomi last December and spent $60 on her order.

She said: "She organised a Topshop spree. I thought it would be a good deal, so I decided to take part."

Unlike Miss Goh, Miss Yeo said she did not do any checks on Naomi.

She recalled: "I waited three weeks (for my purchase) but nothing came, so I e-mailed Naomi but didn't get a reply.

"I searched for her name online and I found many complaints about her, so I immediately asked for a refund."

Most of her e-mails, she claimed, went unanswered until several weeks later, when she got an SMS from Naomi saying her order was on the way.

Said Miss Yeo: "It never came even after I called and texted her repeatedly."

Yet another online shopper, undergraduate Soh Cailing, 20, said she participated in three sprees organised by Naomi between July and September last year and spent $177.

When nothing came, she wrote to Naomi whom she claimed merely offered excuses.

Both Miss Yeo and Cailing lodged claims at the Small Claims Tribunal, but said Naomi never showed up in court for mediation.

Naomi does not dispute this.

Angry

So shoppers have turned to venting their anger online, warning others about Naomi.

One netizen collated a list of more than 10 police reports lodged against Naomi and also posted screen captures of e-mail correspondence with her.

The pressure finally got to Naomi.

In a mass e-mail sent to spree participants last October, Naomi wrote: "I have scheduled transfers for the next two weeks, with $500 being transferred every day... "I'm having a big family crisis with this going on, so I will settle these by the next two weeks."

In the e-mail, Naomi said she would not entertain any phone calls nor reply to any more e-mails.

She added that once she had "settled" all outstanding orders and refunds, she plans to stop organising sprees for good.

The spree participants just want their money back.

Said Miss Soh: "We gave Naomi so many chances, but she's disappointed everyone so far."

Miss Goh added: "I asked her to return me $200, but she insisted she was really broke, so I didn't want to push her and waited.

"True enough, I got back nothing - and now, she won't even reply to my texts."