Pretty women lure losers to gaming table
At least 13 single male tourists have been lured by pretty women into playing rigged blackjack games, losing a total of RM150,000 since the beginning of the year.
Although police have received 13 such reports this year alone, they believe that many more tourists have fallen victim to this scam, believed to be run by two Filipino couples.
In all the cases, the victims were befriended by one or two women while sight-seeing in the city. The women, said to be in their 20s and good-looking, would lure the victim with promises of "a good time".
They would then take the victim for a drive before ending up in an apartment where her accomplices would be waiting.
After drinks and chit-chat, the victim would be invited to a game of blackjack.
Investigations revealed that the victim would usually win the first several rounds. This, police believe, is to keep him gambling.
Not long after, the victim would start losing all his cash and incur debts.
To clear the debt, he would be taken to a jewellery store where he would buy jewellery to the amount owing, using his credit card.
In all cases, the culprits would hold on to the purchase slip, buying themselves time to make their getaway.
Police are looking into the possibility that goldsmith stores are in cahoots with the Filipino couples.
City commercial crimes chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Aris Ramli said police are having difficulty tracking the gang’s movement as they covered their tracks well.
"The victims cannot remember where the gambling sessions took place," Mohd Aris said.
"They cannot even tell us if the couples are locals or foreigners. All they said was that they spoke good English."
Police believe the victims were taken for a long drive to confuse their sense of direction before they are taken to the apartments.
"The victims cannot even remember where they bought the jewellery."
Police believe the suspects would target their victims at the usual tourist spots in the city — Jalan Sultan Ismail, Jalan Raja Chulan, KLCC, Central Market and Dataran Merdeka.
Mohd Aris said this scam is not new.
Last year, four tourists reported that they had lost a total of RM500,000 in separate incidents.
In the latest incident last Sunday, a 62-year-old Japanese man fell victim to this scam. He lost a total of RM30,000. He paid them RM450 in cash and the rest in jewellery.
Two days earlier, a 44-year-old Australian tourist was approached by two women while walking alone along Jalan Raja Chulan last Friday.
The young women struck up a conversation with him before driving him to their apartment where two men were waiting.
The Aussie was well-treated before he was invited to a game of blackjack. He lost RM4,000 and ran up a debt of RM10,000.
To cover the debt, he was taken to a jewellery store where he was made to buy jewellery worth RM10,000. He was then left in the city centre.
2005-08-12
