New Scam at KLIA / LCCT / LRT Stations!

I received this news in my email. I don’t know whether it’s true or not but the message it contains makes sense. So, just to be on the safe side, I suggest you to take note of this new scam.

The modus operandi:-

A few days ago a new type of crime has surfaced in town.It goes something like this:-

• Somebody slips a handphone into your pocket.
• Sometimes it could be just a wallet with an identity card and a few ringgits.
• A few minutes later, the ‘owner’ comes up and confronts you, the ‘thief ‘.
• He makes a big commotion that you stole his stuff.
• You, caught unaware, are then pulled aside by the ‘owner’ for a settlement where you are intimidated and threatened that if you do not pay up the police will be brought in.
• If you pay up, this ‘owner’ lets you go. If not, the police are brought in.
• Another strange thing is that there always seems to be a ‘witness’ to your act of ‘theft’.
• I am told that this often happens to foreigners at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) or even at LRT trains.
• Given that you’re ‘guilty until proven innocent’ as far as the Malaysian police are concerned, I understand that some poor people are now in jail for these ‘offences’.
• At the KLIA, the ‘owner’ throws his handphone and wallet with the few ringgit notes into the luggage trolley of a just arrived passenger.
• The drama unfolds a few minutes later. The real culprit has easily convinced our Malaysian police to arrest the real victim (if he has not paid up the ‘settlement’ demand).
• This is a very serious matter. This is another form of extortionists operating in broad daylight.
• They are disgusting criminals who will do anything to rob and steal.
• The sickening part of the whole scenario is that unless you pay the “quoted settlement” money, they will put you in real trouble by calling the police.
• The real culprit gets back his handphone and wallet but the real victim ( i.e. could be any one of us) is thrown into the police lock up and charged in court.
• So do be very careful, otherwise you may end up as a “thief” as you have no way to prove your innocence.
• End of report.

So, that’s what I have come to know of the way this new scam works.

It’s plausible that such a scam can take place in our nation’s airport terminals and also at the LRT / Monorail / ERL / Komuter / KL Sentral stations where unless one is knowledgable about the laws and rights of a person falsely accused of theft by these scoundrels, one can be extorted and threatened into paying them our hardearned money just to avoid unnecessary embarrassment and of being shamed in public!

As the country is being invaded by illegal immigrants from the neighbouring countries, it is generally understood that criminal elements will also slip in and when they have settled down here, they will soon resort to linking up with the local criminals and start devising such scams to fleece the poor citizens of this nation of their money by resorting to such tricks and measures.

I strongly suggest that if anyone of you should become an unwitting victim to these scoundrels, to be aware of this modus operandi and do alert our police officers within the vicinity of the incident about this scam.

Be very careful when being in crowded places such as the airports, bus, ferry and train stations and also at the jetties or ports of our country.

Anyone coming unnecessarily close to you or your bags /belongings could be a potential scam artist! Do not fall prey to them. Alert your families, friends and fellow citizens.

Better to be safe than sorry! Do not take this in vain. It can really happen to anyone of us!

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