Wednesday August 24, 2011

Coach falls prey to con men while in London

By RASHVINJEET S.BEDI
rashvin@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian fell victim to con men posing as policemen in London, losing almost US$600 (RM1,800).
Muhammad Sahir A. Rahim, 29, the Malaysian optimist sailing team coach, was on his way to a park to join the team for training when the incident occurred on Aug 12.
As Sahir needed to use the toilet, he told the team to go ahead. He left about 10 minutes later to the park located near Malaysia Hall in central London, where the team was staying.
As he was walking, a tourist who looked Eastern European came up to him and asked for directions.
A few seconds later, another two foreign-looking men came up to them. They produced police badges and asked both of them for their passports and wallets for identification.
“The other tourist gave his wallet. I saw them taking out money and putting it back. It didn't feel right, but they wanted to see some identification,” said Sahir in an interview from Langkawi, where he is based.
As Sahir had left his passport behind, he handed over his wallet.
“I saw them taking out money and putting it back quickly,” he said.
He then returned to Malaysia Hall and asked the reception if the police ever conducted such checks on tourists, and was told about a similar modus operandi used by criminals in the area.
Upon checking, Sahir found about US$600 missing from his wallet.