29 February 2012
MUCH has been written and said about the notorious scratch-and-win scams. Many losses and heartaches have been reported too, from unsuspecting victims who tried to bite off more than they could chew.
But the con men running such syndicates are still around trying to fool the masses.
Scratch a card and pay this much and you'll get a car, a motorcycle or the humble refrigerator.
Of course, most will end up bringing a blanket or a mattress home after paying tens of thousands of ringgit or Singaporean dollars.
They were just "unlucky" and placed their bets on the wrong cards.
Or perhaps, Lady Luck had not smiled upon them from the start due to their own foolishness.
And they were fleeced right under their noses.
But thanks to the ongoing campaign against these dubious contests, the public now have a better picture of them.
Previously, potential victims might take the time to entertain the a scratch-and-win agent until they were duly conned into taking part in the contest.
Now, a single shove is more than enough to leave an aggressive agent stunned and keep them at bay.
Such a scene took place at the bridge connecting JB Sentral and City Square shopping mall.
The bridge is one of the hotspots in the city where scratch-and-win agents lurk.
The agents were very young indeed.
They were either fresh school-leavers or college students working part-time for pocket money.
They flashed smiles, patted the shoulders of potential victims and tried to lie they way into the hearts and minds of the passers-by crossing the bridge.
Their victims even include those from the island republic across the causeway. They too, recorded heavy losses after falling into the trap of the scratch-and-win con men.
Many still have yet to grasp the simple logic -- you don't have to pay for the prizes you have won.
Back to the bridge. An old lady who had seen the antics of the agents decided to make a dash for it.
She was grimacing and limping from an injury under a yellowed bandage wrapped around her left knee.
One of the agents, a female of about 19 years old, spotted the old lady trying to make her way through the crowd.
She was panting but wary of her predator fixing her gaze on her.
The agent then tried to stop her. Talking loudly, the agent with a stack of scratch-and-win cards in hand, tried to convince the elderly lady that she was not running a scam.
The old lady gave a deep sigh. Perhaps, there was something else that was hurting her, other than the injury.
But the agent was not going to let her prey go so easily.
What she did next may well have been the most aggressive and desperate move pulled by an agent which also caught the attention of passers-by.
The agent tried to stop the old lady by blocking her way and spoke loudly in her face, reiterating that the contest was not a scam.
The old lady, who was obviously annoyed, did what most people would have done when faced with such hurdles while crossing the bridge -- she shoved the agent aside with her right arm and shoulder.
She did it with so much gusto that the other agents who were nearby immediately toned down their approach and, for a while, kept quiet as if to ruminate the situation.
The female agent was reeling with shock as it was probably her first encounter with such an incident.
Most of the people she had met before would probably have spoken softly or waved their hands and politely declined from participating in the contest.
But she what did not know was that the public had grown tired of such scams, the people who run the scams and how aggressive and rude some of the agents had become in their effort to sell their products.
There would be less people conned into taking part in such contests if more of them behaved like the gutsy old lady
Scratch a card and pay this much and you'll get a car, a motorcycle or the humble refrigerator.
Of course, most will end up bringing a blanket or a mattress home after paying tens of thousands of ringgit or Singaporean dollars.
They were just "unlucky" and placed their bets on the wrong cards.
Or perhaps, Lady Luck had not smiled upon them from the start due to their own foolishness.
And they were fleeced right under their noses.
But thanks to the ongoing campaign against these dubious contests, the public now have a better picture of them.
Previously, potential victims might take the time to entertain the a scratch-and-win agent until they were duly conned into taking part in the contest.
Now, a single shove is more than enough to leave an aggressive agent stunned and keep them at bay.
Such a scene took place at the bridge connecting JB Sentral and City Square shopping mall.
The bridge is one of the hotspots in the city where scratch-and-win agents lurk.
The agents were very young indeed.
They were either fresh school-leavers or college students working part-time for pocket money.
They flashed smiles, patted the shoulders of potential victims and tried to lie they way into the hearts and minds of the passers-by crossing the bridge.
Their victims even include those from the island republic across the causeway. They too, recorded heavy losses after falling into the trap of the scratch-and-win con men.
Many still have yet to grasp the simple logic -- you don't have to pay for the prizes you have won.
Back to the bridge. An old lady who had seen the antics of the agents decided to make a dash for it.
She was grimacing and limping from an injury under a yellowed bandage wrapped around her left knee.
One of the agents, a female of about 19 years old, spotted the old lady trying to make her way through the crowd.
She was panting but wary of her predator fixing her gaze on her.
The agent then tried to stop her. Talking loudly, the agent with a stack of scratch-and-win cards in hand, tried to convince the elderly lady that she was not running a scam.
The old lady gave a deep sigh. Perhaps, there was something else that was hurting her, other than the injury.
But the agent was not going to let her prey go so easily.
What she did next may well have been the most aggressive and desperate move pulled by an agent which also caught the attention of passers-by.
The agent tried to stop the old lady by blocking her way and spoke loudly in her face, reiterating that the contest was not a scam.
The old lady, who was obviously annoyed, did what most people would have done when faced with such hurdles while crossing the bridge -- she shoved the agent aside with her right arm and shoulder.
She did it with so much gusto that the other agents who were nearby immediately toned down their approach and, for a while, kept quiet as if to ruminate the situation.
The female agent was reeling with shock as it was probably her first encounter with such an incident.
Most of the people she had met before would probably have spoken softly or waved their hands and politely declined from participating in the contest.
But she what did not know was that the public had grown tired of such scams, the people who run the scams and how aggressive and rude some of the agents had become in their effort to sell their products.
There would be less people conned into taking part in such contests if more of them behaved like the gutsy old lady
No comments:
Post a Comment