Woman taken for a ride by ‘friendly’ ride-sharing driver

KUALA LUMPUR: A woman, who befriended a ride-sharing driver on WeChat, is now RM25,000 poorer after she left her belongings in his car.

“We became friends in January and would chat every now and then,” said travel consultant Melanie Phang, 27.

On May 26, she asked him to pick her up from the airport upon her return from a business trip.

He fetched her at 11.45pm, took her for supper and even refused the fare for the ride, she said.

“He insisted on buying me food even after I refused his offer,” she said.

When she got home at about 2am, Phang said she realised that she had left her bag in his car.

Among others, the bag contained US$5,000, which was her company’s cash advance, two credit cards, a passport, an iPhone 6 and headphones.

When she contacted him, the driver told her that he would return the bag to her the next morning.

But there has been no news from him, Phang said, adding

that two transactions totalling RM9,093.40 had been made on her credit cards instead.

“I went to his home in Batang Kali, hoping to retrieve my bag but only his mother was home. She said she was unable to contact him too,” said Phang, adding that the driver had blocked her on WeChat.

Phang claimed that another man contacted her on WeChat on June 3, asking for RM1,000 if she wanted her passport back.

According to the man, he found her passport in Petaling Street with her WeChat ID attached. He even sent her photos as proof.

Phang, who relayed her plight to MCA Public Services and Complaints Depart­ment head Datuk Seri Michael Chong, had lodged a report at the Kepong police station.

“There have been similar cases. I hope that everyone will be careful.”