Last Saturday, I received an SMS extending congratulations that my SIM card won me a prize money of RM9000 (read nine thousand Ringgit) and that I should call a number to claim the prize. What? You think I am nuts? I did not make that call.
That string of numbers looked suspicious alright. It's got a '00' preceding it. '00' is the country code we dial to connect overseas. I wonder how many people got duped.
Talk about being duped, I read this interesting incident in the papers the other day. Looks like lots of opportunities out there.
Two gigolo wannabes come clean with story
KUALA LUMPUR: Two men who were promised lucrative jobs as gigolos by an “escort service company” ended up being duped of their cash.
The victims, who only wanted to be known as Martin and Alan, said they answered an advertisement in a Chinese newspaper last month which said it was looking for young and handsome men.
“When we contacted the company, we were promised a monthly salary of US$10,000 (RM37,000) if we did more than just escorting women.
“But the catch was that we had to deposit RM1,000 to an account belonging to the company,” said Martin, 22.
He was informed that the RM1,000 was a fee to become a member of the company.
Alan, 28, said to convince them, the company assured that their clients were all young and wealthy foreigners.
They took the bait and were later instructed to wait for clients at a five-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur. They realised they were duped when they tried to contact the company and discovered that its handphone number was terminated.
“I worked out in a gym to make sure I looked good and was strong for my clients. I even drank lots of essence of chicken,” lamented Martin.
“I actually walked up to several foreigners and asked them if they were my clients. I was nearly slapped by two women,” Alan chipped in.
MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong said there were probably many others who were duped but were too embarrassed to come forward.
Source...The Star...Two gigolo wannabes come clean with story
Wahahahaha...
ReplyDeleteI cannot stop laughing...
I mean I don't mean to be mean...
May be I'm just going crazy at times
LOL
I hope we all learn from this
:)
Times must be hard such that service provider has to put money up-front! This world is getting more cruel by the day.
ReplyDeleteHey, you are wicked lah - laughing at people's misery. But then again, it's a lesson to be learned by all, not to be fooled. Greed = loss?
ReplyDeleteJoe, a sad state of affairs indeed. Crooks are getting bolder by the day.
ReplyDeleteHi Happysurfer.
ReplyDeleteOh dear, I do feel sorry for those two who were duped, but I have no sympathy for them. As I said in one of my posting, “There’s no such thing as a free dinner”.
Its very hard for People/Services/Companies to get me to part with my money. I always want proof that what they are trying to sell me is bona fide , and do I really want ‘it’. I ask for a ‘trail run’ before I commit myself. - No ‘trail run’, no commitment ....
Regards.
Mick
Hi Mick, these days there are so many people and schemes out to get us to part with our money, isn't it? Very wise to be extra careful.
ReplyDeleteWah, MCA also can take care of such cases har..
ReplyDeleteThey must be very busy
Those two guys are actually lucky. An awful lot of women from Taiwan, Thailand, Brazil, and the Philippines come to Japan on similar job offers, and when they arrive here their passports are confiscated by their new "bosses", they are told they have to work to pay back their (ridiculously inflated) travel expenses, and then they are made to work as prostitutes.
ReplyDeleteRobin, it is Michael Chong who is very busy. Lots of people see him to solve their problems - even non-Chinese - and he helps all. He truly is a busy body, literally.
ReplyDeleteMM, sad, innit? Thanks for sharing that.