If you ever watch the move "Sting" and you would be able to enjoy the thrill and excitement of how a plot was being set up and cheated someone big time! All these swindling acts need brain-work put together and make it look like the real thing and the victims just could not help but fell into the traps!
I had in real life witnessed 2 incidents of "Sting" that related to me directly and indirectly:
Back in year 1987-88, I wanted to sell off my Toyota LE to depart for Taiwan. Before my planned departure, I advertised for the sales of my vehicle with number plate WBA8945 and it attracted quite a few interested potential buyers. But the most efficient buyer at that time was someone who paid an immediate downpayment of RM200 without inspecting and asking much about the car. After paying the money, he disappeared for a week or two without any news and I was trying to locate him high and low. Had tried to call him on his house phone but no one picked up the call and was wondering why some guy paid generously RM200 and not even in a hurry to get the deal through. He finally appeared and told me to take the car to one of the finance company situated near to Brickfield and the entrance of University Malaya Kuala Lumpur. My wife and I drove the car all the way there and someone by the name of Mr. Billy Ong was introduced to us. He was a fair, good and honest looking young gentleman donned in smart long sleeve shirt presented himself to us as the Finance branch manager. He told us to open up the hood of the car and check on the engine and chassis numbers so that they matched with what they appeared in the car registration card. That was the usual procedure of a finance company to assess the value of the car before the hire purchase loan was approved for the potential buyer.
He then brought us back to his office and while entering the office, few office girls were sitting there with typewriters and they kept staring at us as we entered and we thought we were just too much of strangers to them. The mananger quickly locked up the doors and gates and told us that the area was not a safe place because of frequent thefts and criminal extortion. He sat in his office room and talked to us about the car now was approved for financing and then pointed on one Star newspaper cutting attached on the wall. The content of which denoted how unscrupulous car buyers cheated the owners and he advised us to be extra careful on conmen! How impressive!
Then we returned to our home and patiently waiting for the car to be sold. The buyer phoned up and came to our house, and he told us to give the car to him. I was suspicious and then decided to phone up my brother-in-law from Public bank about the procedure to surrender my car. I was advised not to let him have the car driven away unless the balance of payment had been made in full. He grudgingly complained that the finance company had agreed to pay and was not happy with my refusal to let him have the possession of the car and went off. After a week or so and we advertised again and sold the car to one Mr. Ong who returned from Brunei. And then we saw newspaper published on news about several occasions on this kind of car dealing cases where car owners lost their cars without payment and the culprit was finally caught by the police! This was a typical case of highly well organized crime that involved intellectuals and a group of swindlers, I was lucky that I did not fall into their trap!
Another case was in Taiwan, a group of people were playing cards on a make shift table for gambling in the market place. All the players on betting seemed to be having easy wins over the card shuffler guy. And while you were watching, some women came around and wanted to lend you money for the easy win that you observed. You were tempted and decided to join in for the easy win but instead lost hundreds or thousand of borrowed money. Then they asked you to return them the money in cash or kind! Human greed would blurr your vision and mind to fall into a simple trap and trick set up this way.
Just remember, there is no easy way out to get easy money, we all have to work hard to earn it. If there is something too good to be true, be careful, it must be the job of a conman with a catch. As long as you have a clear mind, not to be greedy, you could be 100% sure that you would not be conned into this!
May God bless all the honest people!
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