S'pore man, 72, takes bus in JB, finds S$450 & credit card missing from wallet with only RM200 inside

A day trip from Singapore to Johor Bahru (JB) with a friend turned sour for a 72-year-old senior from Singapore when he realised that S$450 and a credit card had been stolen from his wallet after taking a bus to JB.

S$800 was subsequently charged to the missing card without his knowledge.

The senior suspected that the thief left RM200 (S$60.53) behind in his wallet so as not to arouse suspicions.

Allegedly pickpocketed while taking bus

The man, surnamed Chen (transliteration), told Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min) that on the morning of Dec. 19, he and a friend visited KSL City Mall in JB to shop.

Chen said he had heard of thefts in JB before, so he would wear pants with deeper pockets and periodically check to see if his wallet was still with him.

He never expected to fall prey to a pickpocket.

Chen suspected that the alleged theft took place when he took bus service F100 from KSL City Mall to City Square in JB at around 1pm.

The bus was so crowded that Chen and his friend were separated.

Chen managed to get a seat in the second-to-last row of the bus beside a middle-aged man.

"The man kept moving about in his seat, but I didn't pay much attention to him. I also didn't feel him touch me, and he got off the bus before me," Chen told Shin Min.

RM200 left in wallet by alleged thief

Not suspecting anything was awry, Chen got off at City Square, where he stayed for some time.

There was still more than RM200 (S$60.53) left in his wallet at the time, Chen said.

After having dinner with his friend, Chen returned to Singapore.

However, at around 6pm, when Chen opened his wallet to tally his expenses for the day, he realised that S$450 and a credit card had disappeared from it.

Suspecting he had been pickpocketed, Chen immediately called his bank.

That's when he realised that S$800 had been charged to his credit card without his knowledge.

Thief might have put wallet back in my pocket: Senior

The bank assisted him in cancelling the card, and Chen made a police report.

Chen surmised that the thief might have been selective about what he took from Chen's wallet to avoid arousing suspicions.

"The thief might have been worried that I would cancel the card if my wallet went missing, so they put the wallet back in my pocket, leaving me with the Malaysian currency to trick me. But I still don't understand how they managed to steal the money without anyone noticing."

Chen indicated that the bank would need about three weeks for their investigations.

He is unsure if the money charged to his credit card can be recovered.

He also does not plan to lodge a police report in Malaysia as he feels the process might be too complicated.

Chen also hopes to share his experience to warn other Singaporeans to be vigilant when visiting JB.

"The last time I visited JB was several years ago. This time, I went there on a whim with my friend. I never expected something like this to happen," he said.

Top image from Shin Min Daily News