Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Pedestrian scam - is this real or fabricated?

Received this e-mail.
With so much foreign workers in Singapore (some from the villages - having spent a fortune to come and work here), many will try to make money from unsuspecting Singaporeans and the insurance companies.


Is this real or fabricated?


Hi my dear friends,
I am very much still in shock by an unscrupulous SCAM I encountered earlier today. Yes, I have seen similar cases on TV drama but having experience it first hand personally was horrifying.

This morning, on the way to Tiong Bahru Market along Seng Poh Road, as I was preparing to turn into the carpark, I heard a loud bang coming from the back of my car. I quickly pulled my car along the side and saw a young man, early thirties sitting on the side of the road. He was wearing a red polo tee, I believe bearing a constructing company name.


I was puzzled how the back of my car could hit anyone when I was driving not at a quick speed preparing to turn into the car park. Nevertheless, I asked the man if he was hurt, I saw a few scratches on his knee. He started screaming, rang his work reported he was in an accident and could not go to work. Fortunately, I saw a GP clinic behind us, I offered him to see the GP together, he refused and said he preferred to see a government clinic. I said to him, let’s see the GP first, if need to the GP will refer us to the hospital, he refused fiercely, I offered to call for an ambulance instead, I offered to ring his boss to explain what happened and said to him we should ring the police to make a report. He started screaming and asking me to compensate him with money instead. I was at wit’s end, I asked if he could let me have his identification so that I could ring the police. I am pretty sure he is from the mainland, with his heavily accented mandarin, he insisted he is a local but said he misplaced his IC. I told him, even more so we should report to the police that he lost his identification?


At that time, I was very much in shock, I felt bad and was tempted to give him money but was afraid he might go to the cop and reported that I gave him money to pacify him. In no time I went to the coffee shop behind us and begged anyone what I should do if he refused to see a doctor or refused help?


One elderly couple came up to me and said they witnessed everything, they saw him, hit my car and fell to the ground, they insisted that I should call the police to protect myself. Another man said to me it’s a scam and told me to leave him alone.

At that time, the man was still on the ground asking for money, I told him I can’t give him money and I have decided to call the cops, I told him it’s better we have everything documented in a report. He left very quickly and shouted I was heartless after hitting someone and said he was in the worst of luck to have met me.
Seriously I felt very bad, during a situation like this, I was totally embarrassed with a crowd around us! In any case I rang the police to make a report and was asked to go to the police station later to make a statement. (BTW, I’m using this as my report to the police later.)

I wrote this just so to let everyone know and beware of such a SCAM. In such a terrorizing event, keep calm and best to report immediately to alert the police. What is becoming of Singapore?

Pam

5 comments:

  1. This incident is not new, happens all the time. Motorists driving near construction sites should be careful, as foreign workers are known to dash across roads on purpose, then pretend to fall on the roads, and then prey on us to offer them money as compensation for the slight physical injuries.
    Yes, just call 999 for police.

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  2. If anyone knows how to contact Pam, please ask her to contact me at kinlian@gmail.com.

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  3. when i was in Canada my canadian friend also warned me of such scam there, the usual culprits are foreign immigrants from third world countries.

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  4. I received an email from Pamela who confirmed that the incident is real and that she has made a police report.

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  5. I would suggest the dewller in Seng Poh RD should report to the police on this conman or whatever
    illegel activities so that it does not tarnish the estate or SINGAPOREAN IMAGE.

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