KEMAMAN: When a female customer paid Muhamad Iskandar Alias with a RM100 note on Sunday, which he later realised was fake, the 25-year-old night market trader decided to share his plight on Facebook.
To his surprise, several other victims who had been duped by the same woman also took to social media to share their experience.
It turned out that the woman and her male partner have been going on a "cheating spree" by duping unsuspecting small scale traders by handing them fake RM100 notes to purchase items before making off with the balance (genuine currency).
Speaking of the incident on June 9, Iskandar, who sells fried chicken at Kemasik near here, said the woman came in a white car, parked and walked over to his stall.
"She bought fried chicken worth RM15 and handed a RM100 note which was neatly folded. Since I was busy entertaining other customers, I placed the note inside a box and handed her the balance.
"Minutes later, while arranging the notes, I held the RM100 bill and realised the print was different. I knew then it was fake. I got on my motorcycle to track down the white car, and spotted it at Meraga Beris some 10km away," he said when contacted today.
However, when he tried to stop the car which was earlier parked in front of a shop selling keropok, it sped off.
"I tried to give chase but failed. I went back to the keropok seller and was informed that the woman had handed him a RM100 note which turned out to be fake. When I inspected the note, I noticed it had the same serial number as mine.
"Later, I was informed that the same suspects had cheated a grocery shop owner, a cigarette seller and a fruit shop owner in Kemaman and Marang. It seems that their car registration number is also fake," he said, adding the two suspects looked like they were in their 30s.
Iskandar said he lodged a police report at the Kemaman police station on Monday and handed the fake note.
Meanwhile, lemang stall operator Mahanisan Noor Alam Shah, 35, from Permatang Badak here alleged that she had also received the fake RM100 note from the couple on Sunday.
"They bought lemang and handed me the fake note," she said, adding they left in a white car.
Mahanisan said she went to the Permatang Badak police beat and was later instructed to lodge a report at the district police station.
News of the RM100 fake notes has gone viral on Facebook.
Kemaman district deputy police chief Deputy Superintendent Mohd Haki Hasbullah has advised victims to come forward to lodge a report.
Checks revealed the couple targets small scale traders operating at stalls and roadside without counterfeit detection devices. They would make a small purchase before handing a RM100 fake note.
