This cheat approached my fil as a friend during a dinner in Loyang Tua Pek Gong...
Then he asked him out for coffee and told him that his company has a fish/prawn pond in Batam and need to employ workers to work for them. He told fil that he can pay $1,700++ per month and he can reach / go home at 3pm everyday.
Note: -
Sometimes you never know how naive one can be to actually believe there are SUCH "FANTASTIC DEALS" in places like Indonesia, Batam when the people there are living such frugal lives...
He brought fil to photocopy his ic and took 4 passport sized photos saying that he would need it for the application of work permit and passport (fil's passport had expired). Fil handed him $380 ($80 for process of passport & $300 I guess, should be for process of work permit).
When fil reached home and gave the whole incident a careful thought, he realised that something was amiss and told us about the matter but its too late cos he had already handed the money to the cheat.
The cheat called few days later informing fil that he needed him to sign some documents and to pass him another $150 (he never state the exact reason for the money). The cheat asked fil to meet him at the bus stop in front of Block 12 Haig Road Market yesterday.
We kinda planned an ambush and walked up to them (fil & the cheat, who met up in bus stop already) and demanded to know exactly what was going on...
Well, we gave the cheat a chance to explain himself.... The cheat, who could only converse in Hokkien, (I've tried to speak Chinese to him but his replies was in Hokkien) then told us that the company does not want to employ my fil anymore.
He stumbled upon his own words and kept repeating, "If he don't want to work I can pass him back all the money. The company don't want him to work already."
I was thinking if that was the case - Then why you still ask him out to collect $150 from him?!!
Wa lau.... he really thought we are big time idiots!!!
He tried to convince us that he would return us the money on Monday.
When we demanded to see his ic / name card / any other forms of identification, he told us he did not bring any. No proof then how to expect he can pay us back. *I really feel like kicking him ~ or punch him!!!* I went on to snatch the piece of paper he had in his pocket which was actually a piece of paper ~ a printing form (thinking back, I should not have done it as it was not known where he has any weapons etc). He must be thinking he could cheat fil into siging onto the form to give him further assurance to continue to cheat on him... Fil does not understand English!
After some arguments along the main road and endless stares by passer-bys, (there was this uncle who stood there and stared at us for sometime and I turned to ask him whether he knows the cheat, feeling pissed, so kaypoh! He should have call the police already) we told the cheat that we would be calling police to be witness since he said he would return the money on Monday. At first the cheat also agreed to the suggestions then after sometime he tried to find excuses to run away. He was pacing up & down the walkway...
In the end, he told us he wanted to go to the toilet in the Malay Coffeeshop and since we knew that it is impossible to get the money back from him, we let him go...
True enough... He ran away along Onan Road (the Malay Coffeeshop, Hotel 81 that stretch).
We did not give the chase as we do not want to be falling into his den (maybe he has a group of accomplice waiting for him) or whatsoever.
Please warn your family members of such cheats!
Fyi... We reported the matter to the police and informed them that the cheat had arranged to meet up yesterday. The police told us that they could not do anything and advised us to call 999 when we had already met up with the cheat (@#$@!#$!!!! for what???).
Since young, I have this concept from school that police protect the citizens. Maybe they DO AT SOME POINT protect us e.g. catch the thieves only after a theft and not attending to leads given to them beforehand, whereby a man is suspected to be a thief...
Well... maybe I am expecting too much from them.
They have their proper procedures, SOPs etc I guess they have to follow the handbook.
Their reply to me was always (had not many but twice encounters with the police): -
"Sorry Madam, there is nothing much we could do."
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