A Kuantan businessman who wanted to sell his luxury watch ended up getting conned and losing the watch worth tens of thousands of ringgit.
The man who wanted to be known as Andy, said he had listed the Rolex Explorer II watch for sale on his son’s Facebook page and quickly received a message from a prospective buyer.
“The buyer known as Sen asked to meet in Kuala Lumpur to complete the sale. I was afraid he would be a no-show so I demanded that he pay for my transportation fee, which he did.
“On May 17, I drove to Kuala Lumpur and met Sen at the Rolex service centre. The watch is worth RM52,000 now but I agreed to knock it down to RM49,000 as there’s some minor defects and it required maintenance.
“I had initially wanted to settle the deal at the service centre but Sen asked that we take the discussion back to his home in Menara Binjai as his wife handled his finances,” said Andy at Teruntum assemblyman Sim Chon Siang’s service centre here on Thursday (May 19).
While at Menara Binjai, Sen handed Andy RM4,000 in cash and said he would pay the rest through an online instant transfer.
“However, when Sen showed me the transaction, I immediately called it out that the transfer had been done through interbank GIRO. Sen was apologetic and said it was an accident.
“I wanted to call off the deal so Sen proceeded to call the bank. The so-called bank employee, whom I suspect was an accomplice, told us that since it was past 5pm, the transfer could not be cancelled,” he said.
Andy said Sen then reassured him that the money transfer through interbank GIRO would be completed by 11pm that day as was bank policy.
“I was still distrustful at that time but I started to feel some pity over his mistake.
“He then brought me up to his condominium unit and when I saw it, I thought Sen must have the means to buy the watch,” he said.
Feeling assured, Andy then handed the watch to Sen and went back to Kuantan.
By 11pm, Andy still had not received the RM45,000 balance and he frantically tried to contact Sen but by then, the confidence trickster had blocked his number.
On May 18, Andy lodged a police report. He said the watch had the serial number 407DY240 and asked prospective buyers out there to be aware that it was a stolen item. – The Star