Hoodwinked $300,000
By Ignatius Stephen

Bandar Seri Begawan - Look out! A dream team is in town. But, wait a second it could result in a nightmare scarring you for life, if you are not careful.

That is what a local widow found out this week. She was so totally hoodwinked that she parted with $300,000 in a moment of apparent hallucination. And she is unlikely to get her money back anytime soon, try as she might.

The police have cautioned the public to look out for such scams.

The widow told the Weekend that she was walking along the open market in Bandar Seri Begawan earlier this week one morning when two ladies apparently of Chinese origin approached her.

The two strangers upon seeing her exclaimed, "We saw your husband in our dreams last night and we have been looking for you ever since."

Then they quickly gave a detailed description of her husband and his name and other personal particulars. The woman was totally flabbergasted.

How could they know? They are complete strangers. That left the gullible woman in a state of confusion. "Your late husband spoke to us," they told her.

"What did he say?"

"He wanted your urgent help." The widow was most concerned and, needless to say, rather impressed.

Then came the catch. "He wanted you to withdraw the $300,000 you have in the bank and hand it to us so that we could place it on a shrine for a short while so that both of you could benefit from it. He needs it to do some important heavenly transactions.

"Then we will return the money immediately. He will pass on the profit. But you should not tell anyone because it is a secret deal and your late husband would be very angry and the undertaking may not work in his favour," they told her. "Hurry there is no time to lose."

To drive the point home they even told her the name of the bank where the money her husband had given her was deposited.

"Your late husband could-even triple the amount for you. We will charge a small percentage as commission for our work, of course," they told her. They were so convincing.

The woman was really impressed. Without telling anyone the widow handed the -money over. But the two strangers never returned.

The police confirmed they received a report.

There were other instances of cheating unsuspecting locals by other very clever means as well in recent times.

It is believed that in the widow's case there was a local accomplice or accomplices who knew the woman's background well and how the husband looked like and amount she had in the bank. Most likely they helped trace the widow that morning.

But it is by now almost impossible to trace the culprits. Like many others before them most likely they have disappeared with their rich pickings without a trace. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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