Almost got robbed - blah!

Ever since stepping out of the corporate world (I think it's been, 4 months?) I have had yet ANOTHER slap across the face on facing reality. This time I've learnt, it's a cruel, cruel world out there. I have lots more to say on that topic, but cutting to the chase, let me share my yet another awful experience at the shop.

This time, I was at Times Square, alone.

A Middle Eastern guy came into the shop to browse some t-shirts. He looked pretty well off, was wearing a nice long sleeved button shirt, almost business man like. But then again, looks can be deceiving. The weird thing was, he kept panning the shop, concentrating most on the ceiling.

"Gee, he looks like he's looking for a CCTV" I thought to myself.

I couldn't be more correct, and my suspicions were proven awhile later.

He pulled a shirt off the rack, and said he wanted to buy it. BUT he only just landed in Malaysia, and had ONLY USD. He then opened his wallet, showing a nicely rubber-banded stack of $100 notes (which I suspect were fake). So then he asked whether if he could pay me $100, could I give him the balance in Ringgit?

I said no. And asked him to go to a money changer.

He then said he wanted to see what Malaysian money looked like (wtf?!)

Feeling even MORE suspicious, but decided not to be too paranoid, I pulled out RM10 out of my pouch, and held onto it tightly for him to examine. He asked to see a RM50 note, and I showed it to him, holding onto it tightly again. He then asked me to show him a NEW RM50 note, while tugging at the old one in my hand.

He found out the hard way I wasn't going to let go of it, and proceeded to stuff his hand into my pouch and grab the stack of cash inside. I was outraged! Who on Earth has the audacity to do such a thing??

He started speaking in Arabic to me, trying to point out some things on the RM50 note he "supposedly" wanted me to see. And while distracting me, carefully stuffed RM300 from my stack into his pocket.

But not quick enough. I noticed, and since I was in a shopping mall, I wasn't afraid this time.

I pointed at his pocket and demanded loudly, "Give me back my money".

Luckily, he gave it back, and insisted he wanted only to exchange his USD with me. I asked him yet again to go to a money changer.

Apologizing profusely, he left.

I wonder how many other people he scammed. 3 things this time, tripped the alarm bells in my head:

1. Who checks out the damn ceiling in a shop?
2. If he JUST landed in Malaysia with no Ringgit, how on Earth did he end up in Times Square? Fly there? As far as I remember, technology here isn't that advanced that taxi cabs can accept credit cards.
3. A foreigner that has NEVER seen Malaysian money before, knows that there's a new RM50 note out. Wow, way to go, you psychic or something?

I was lucky this time, that I got my money back. And this lesson made me realize that I need to take more precautionary measures to prevent this and other unwanted things from happening in the future. For all small boutique owners out there, PLEASE take note and learn from my lesson.