Kota Kinabalu: Traders here have been advised to be extra careful when dealing with customers using credit cards following the arrest of two men suspected to have used forged credit cards.In issuing the reminder here Wednesday, City Police Chief ACP Hamdan Haji Mohamad (pic) said the two men, aged between 29 and 44, were arrested at a hotel here on Monday after police received a report from a victim.
“Before accepting any payment from customers using credit cards, the traders in the first place have to ascertain the authenticity of the credit cards to avoid being cheated,” he added.
He said in their police report, workers of a birds’ nest shop in Foh Sang, Luyang, said two men came to their shop and bought nine boxes of birds’ nest valued about RM8,000 using credit cards at about 2.25pm on Aug 4.
“After the two customers had gone, the workers checked the credit cards with a bank, only to be informed that the credit cards cannot be used,” Hamdan said, adding that the shop owner then lodged a police report.
According to Hamdan, police discovered credit cards and nine boxes of bird nests inside the men’s room when they were arrested.
He said a similar report was received from a restaurant near the Customs and Excise Department office which claimed it was cheated of about RM5,000 by a group of men who paid for their food and birds’ nest using credit cards.
The restaurateur claimed the men came to his restaurant for dinner on Aug 2 and paid for their food amounting to RM500 and a take-away birds’ nest preparation, valued at more than RM4,000, using credit cards.
He said after being informed by a friend in Luyang that they had lost about RM8,000 to a group of men who bought their birds’ nest using forged credit cards, he checked the transaction.
After being informed by a bank that the credit cards used were fakes, he immediately lodged the police report.
“We are still investigating to ascertain whether the two incidents were committed by the same group or otherwise,” Hamdan added.
