Despite his best efforts to ward off pickpockets, an elderly Singaporean man lost his credit card and S$450 (approx. RM1,480) in cash during a bus trip to Johor Bahru (JB).
To add insult to injury, an additional S$800 (approx. RM2,600) was charged to his credit card following the theft.
72yo SG man has credit card and RM1.4K stolen on JB bus trip
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, 72-year-old Chen (transliteration) said he and a friend travelled to KSL City Mall on Dec 19 to shop.
Having heard of people getting pickpocketed while in JB, Chen added that he would wear pants with “deeper” pockets and occasionally check whether he still had his wallet with him.
At 1pm, Chen and his friend took bus service F100 from KSL City Mall to City Square, where he found himself getting separated from his friend due to the crowd on the bus.
Eventually, he secured a seat  in the second-to-last row of the bus next to a middle-aged man who couldn’t seem to sit still.
“The man kept moving about in his seat, but I didn’t pay much attention. I also didn’t feel him touch me, and he got off the bus before I did,” recounted Chen.
Thinking that all was well, Chen alighted from the bus at City Square and lingered there for some time. He also added that his wallet still had over RM200 inside before he returned to Singapore after having dinner with his friend.
Unfortunately, the opposite proved to be true when Chen discovered that a credit card and S$450 (approx. RM1,480) were missing from the wallet.
When he called the bank regarding the alleged theft, he was informed that S$800 (approx. RM2,600) had been charged to his credit card.
Suspects thief placed wallet back into his pocket
In the end, Chen managed to cancel his stolen credit card and subsequently lodged a police report.
He also said that he suspects the thief purposely stole specific items from his wallet to throw him off the trail.
The thief might have been worried that I would cancel the card if my wallet went missing, so they put the wallet back in my pocket, leaving me with the Malaysian currency to trick me.
“But I still don’t understand how they managed to steal the money without anyone noticing,” he said.
Chen said it would take around three weeks for the bank to wrap up investigations but expressed doubt about recovering the S$800 billed to his credit card.
“I don’t plan to file a police report in Malaysia as I feel the process is too complicated. Previously, I visited JB several years ago on a whim with my friend but I never expected something like this to happen.
“I hope my experience will serve as a warning to Singaporeans visiting JB and cause them to be more vigilant,” he said.
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