<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" bgcolor="#000000"> <table bgcolor="#000000" border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td>MAN TO WOMAN WHO ORDERED HARIRAYA DRINKS:</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="font12w">You've been conned </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="font12w"> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td class="font12w" width="">September 18, 2009</td> <td width="30">
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</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="rightline" valign="top"> <table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr><td class="font12" align="left" valign="top"> IT SOUNDED like a good deal to her - cheap soft drinks that would be delivered to her home for free and in time for Hari Raya Puasa. The offer was advertised on a flyer that Madam Siti Haidah Ahmad got from a friend. The 39-year-old insurance consultant paid $52 for 48 bottles of soft drinks - $5 cheaper than normal. But the drinks were not delivered to her Woodlands flat, and the man whom she paid allegedly disappeared. It was then that she realised that she may have been duped.<table align="right" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="3" width="300"> <tbody><tr> <td> <iframe marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" hspace="0" vspace="0" bordercolor="#000000" src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/html.ng/site=tTNP&sec=TNP_Top_Stories&mcat1=top&cat2=TNP_Top_art&size=300X250" frameborder="0" height="250" scrolling="no" width="300"> <script language="JavaScript1.1" src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/js.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&site=tTNP&sec=TNP_Top_Stories&mcat1=top&cat2=TNP_Top_art&size=300X250"></script> <noscript> <a href="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/click.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&site=tTNP&sec=TNP_Top_Stories&mcat1=top&cat2=TNP_Top_art&size=300X250"><img src="http://ads.asia1.com.sg/image.ng/Params.richmedia=yes&site=tTNP&sec=TNP_Top_Stories&mcat1=top&cat2=TNP_Top_art&size=300X250" border=0></a> </noscript> </iframe>
</td> </tr> </tbody></table> She later made a police report. A police spokesman said investigations are ongoing.
Early last month, Madam Siti got the flyer, which stated that a carton of 1.5-litre bottles of soft drinks was being sold for $13. There are 12 bottles in one carton. Orders had to be made before 4 Sep, and delivery would be between 11 and 15 Sep. There were three names and contact numbers printed on the flyer. The flyer also stated that cash payment had to be made upon delivery.
Cheaper
She said buying a carton of drinks from the supermarket would cost her $5 more. Also, she would not have it delivered to her home. She called one of the numbers listed on the flyer and a man, who allegedly identified himself as 'Noor', answered. 'At first, he said all 2,000 bottles were sold and he didn't want to take my order,' Madam Siti said. But he changed his mind and told her to pay him first. She agreed. She said she did not suspect anything as her sister-in-law had called the man later but he did not accept her order.
Later that day, Madam Siti met 'Noor', whom she said looked to be in his 30s, at the Woodlands Civic Centre, near Causeway Point where she worked, to pay the money. She recalled: 'When I asked him if it was a scam, he said, 'Jangan takut (Malay for don't be worried)', and that he would deliver the drinks to my house on 13 Sep between 11am and 3pm. He even wrote an IC number which I thought was his on a receipt he gave me.' Madam Siti then handed $52 to him. But he never turned up at her house. After many calls to his handphone went unanswered, she said 'Noor' finally picked up the phone at 6.50pm. She said she recognised his voice.
'But he said, 'Sorry, Noor is dead. Don't call back', then hung up,' Madam Siti said.
Her 17-year-old daughter then sent an SMS in Malay to 'Noor' to ask about the delivery. He replied in Malay: 'There are no drinks. You have been conned.'
Madam Siti then called the other two numbers printed on the flyer. She managed to get through to one - a land line. The other was a handphone number.
A woman who identified herself as an Indonesian maid answered. When Madam Siti asked about 'Noor', the maid allegedly told her in Malay he had run away. The maid said that many people had called looking for him. When The New Paper contacted the maid's employer, she claimed the man was her brother-in-law and that she had advised the callers to make police reports. She declined further comment. When we contacted Madam Siti's friend who passed her the flyer, she said the flyer was from a neighbour. Madam Rohani Amir Hussain, 41, a bowling centre executive, had also called 'Noor' to place orders for herself and her relatives. 'He asked me to pay first, but I didn't want to as the flyer stated 'cash on delivery',' she said.
Nurul Asyikin Mohd Nasir, newsroom intern
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</td> </tr> </tbody></table> She later made a police report. A police spokesman said investigations are ongoing.
Early last month, Madam Siti got the flyer, which stated that a carton of 1.5-litre bottles of soft drinks was being sold for $13. There are 12 bottles in one carton. Orders had to be made before 4 Sep, and delivery would be between 11 and 15 Sep. There were three names and contact numbers printed on the flyer. The flyer also stated that cash payment had to be made upon delivery.
Cheaper
She said buying a carton of drinks from the supermarket would cost her $5 more. Also, she would not have it delivered to her home. She called one of the numbers listed on the flyer and a man, who allegedly identified himself as 'Noor', answered. 'At first, he said all 2,000 bottles were sold and he didn't want to take my order,' Madam Siti said. But he changed his mind and told her to pay him first. She agreed. She said she did not suspect anything as her sister-in-law had called the man later but he did not accept her order.
Later that day, Madam Siti met 'Noor', whom she said looked to be in his 30s, at the Woodlands Civic Centre, near Causeway Point where she worked, to pay the money. She recalled: 'When I asked him if it was a scam, he said, 'Jangan takut (Malay for don't be worried)', and that he would deliver the drinks to my house on 13 Sep between 11am and 3pm. He even wrote an IC number which I thought was his on a receipt he gave me.' Madam Siti then handed $52 to him. But he never turned up at her house. After many calls to his handphone went unanswered, she said 'Noor' finally picked up the phone at 6.50pm. She said she recognised his voice.
'But he said, 'Sorry, Noor is dead. Don't call back', then hung up,' Madam Siti said.
Her 17-year-old daughter then sent an SMS in Malay to 'Noor' to ask about the delivery. He replied in Malay: 'There are no drinks. You have been conned.'
Madam Siti then called the other two numbers printed on the flyer. She managed to get through to one - a land line. The other was a handphone number.
A woman who identified herself as an Indonesian maid answered. When Madam Siti asked about 'Noor', the maid allegedly told her in Malay he had run away. The maid said that many people had called looking for him. When The New Paper contacted the maid's employer, she claimed the man was her brother-in-law and that she had advised the callers to make police reports. She declined further comment. When we contacted Madam Siti's friend who passed her the flyer, she said the flyer was from a neighbour. Madam Rohani Amir Hussain, 41, a bowling centre executive, had also called 'Noor' to place orders for herself and her relatives. 'He asked me to pay first, but I didn't want to as the flyer stated 'cash on delivery',' she said.
Nurul Asyikin Mohd Nasir, newsroom intern
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