Watch out road users, it looks like criminals are resorting to their same old tricks again to rob unsuspecting motorists! The Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) of Kedah recent shared a post warning Malaysians about robbers who would prey on innocent car drivers on the road.
In their latest crime alert, they said that discovered criminals were using the point, stop and rob method to rob unsuspecting individuals. They explained that usually, two men on a motorcycle would point at one side of your car’s tyres, indicating that there was a problem.
Then, if the driver ignored this, another motorcycle with two other men would come along and do the same thing. This was supposed to make the driver feel worried about their car and cause them to stop at the side to check their vehicle.
“When the driver stops the car, the motorcyclists would get down from the motorcycle and continue gesturing at the right or left side of the car. They would also ask the driver to get down from the car so that they could see the problem themselves.”
“At the same time, the first motorcycle would also stop nearby, as if they were waiting to offer help but as soon as the driver gets down from the car or even wind down their window, the robbers would strike. They would either hijack the car or force the driver to come out before they drove the car away,” the post said.
Now, if this seems familiar to you, that’s because this is not an entirely new tactic but it seems to be making a comeback and PDRM is warning people to be on the alert for this. But what if you think that your car really has a problem or some genuine kind person is trying to help you?
Well, PDRM also has some advice on this as well. They said that if you encounter such situations, you should always drive to the nearest police station or somewhere bright with lots of people such as 7-Eleven outlets or 24-hour petrol stations. Always take note of the important details of the suspect and their vehicle such as the number plate, colour and how the person looks like.
It’s also important to make sure that you can make an emergency call any second and if they continue harassing you, don’t be afraid to sound your horn to alert other people who can help you. However, if all else fails, you should never struggle with the robbers over material goods as they can turn aggressive and your life is more precious than that.
Also read: PDRM: Delete These 7 Apps That Might Be Secretly Spying On You Right Now