We are being warned again (so soon into the new year) of another type of scam...
Case No.1
"My daughter just related this true incident that happen to her friend's mother.
She was eating breakfast at a makan stall in a wet market. A man approached her and asked if she would like to buy some fresh durians.
Being a durian lover, she said yes. The man then asked her to follow him to his stall nearby.
At his stall, there were lots of durians. The man opened some fruits to show her the freshness of the durian. She was quite taken aback that he opened quite a few, so she said only wanted 5 durians.
Suddenly, the man asked, "What am I going to do with the opened durians?!"
He insisted that she buy all the opened fruits. At this point, two big men with tattoos appeared at the stall.
The frightened woman decided not to buy and quickly walked to her car. But just as she opened the car door, the 'durian seller' came up behind her and slammed her door shut!
He waved the parang he had used to open the durians and demanded RM400 for the 5 durians she had wanted to buy.
The lady tried to protest about the price, but the man shouted at her, waving the parang threateningly close to her head. So, after some 'bargaining' (pleading), the three men settled on a price of RM 300 for five durians!
This incident happened in Cheras, but a robbery scam can be set up anywhere.
Beware, because they pretend to be legit traders, and durian sellers do carry parangs in broad daylight, so they have an alibi. If the cops show up, they'd just deny everything.
Times are hard now, and criminals are cooking up creative ways to rob the more vulnerable ones in surprising ways.
Case No.2
As we had finished our roti canai at Raju's, a "decent" looking youth came up to
me with a durian with a "window" opened to show a nice and tempting durian flesh
inside. Yummy, so I thought.
inside. Yummy, so I thought.
He led me to this van half-filled with durians and promptly told his burly buddy that this boss (that's me) wanted to buy. This fellow just picked a huge durian and proceeded to open it. Then in quick succession, he had already opened 3 fruits.
I frantically stopped him and said that I actually wanted one only.
The usual concluding statement from him was, "What am I going to do with these 3 opened durians ?"
I asked how much?
He answered, "RM280.00" !!
I uttered, "That's robbery."
Sensing that I had just been conned and cornered, I said sternly that I am only willing to pay RM120.00 max for the durians. To cut the long story short, I settled for RM200.00
The lesson to learn from this is, "Don't mess with these con-men, robbers, schemers, or what-they're-called."
The lesson to learn from this is, "Don't mess with these con-men, robbers, schemers, or what-they're-called."
If you want to buy durian, drive a kancil. Better still ride a kapcai.
ReplyDeleteSorry Yong. I think the two cases were sellers who were out to extort money, using the selling of durians as an attraction. They were unlike the usual durian sellers who would try to make slightly more by asking a higher price if you came in a luxury car.
ReplyDelete