The ‘Arab man’ is alleged to be abusive when ignored by people he is approaching.
KOTA KINABALU: A man who claimed to be from ‘Arabia’ has been driving around in a Perodua Bezza vehicle asking for donations from members of the public.
People who have been approached by the “Arab man” were curious and worried that this could be a scammer at work.
Therefore, they called on the authorities concerned to take immediate action.
The “Arab man” together with a woman and a child, have been spotted at numerous locations in Kinarut and Tanjung Aru, driving around in what people believe are rented vehicles over the past few days, asking for money from sympathisers.
Several social media users claimed to have almost become “victims”.
They claimed that the “Arab man” would drive up to them and give all sorts of excuses such as being unable to use his ATM card, his card credit had been blocked and he had lost his identification card.
Some claimed that they saw the man with two children in the car, while some said they only saw the man and a woman, while others claimed that the man has been seen driving different Bezza cars – blue and brown – at different locations.
The ‘Arab man’ has been spotted in two different Perodua Bezza cars within 10 minutes.
While many would just ignore the man by pretending that they could not speak in English and just drove away, others would give the man and his ‘family’ some money out of sympathy.
For those who ignored the man’s plea, he would yell, honk and swear at them.
The man and his so-called family have been sighted at several areas such as Karamunsing, Papar, petrol station near Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Bataras supermarket in Putatan and Kinarut.
Many have now asked the authorities to look into this matter, and investigate whether they are part of a syndicate.
Papar police chief DSP Batholomew Umpit said they were monitoring the matter but no action can be taken at the moment as no harm or crime had been committed.
“But if anyone feels they have been cheated or anything, immediately lodge a report so that appropriate action can be taken,” he said.
Batholomew added that according to information received, the man is a foreigner who had come to Sabah for travelling purposes.
“We will update once we have more information,” he said.
Meanwhile, Kota Kinabalu police chief ACP Habibi Majinji also said that police were still investigating the matter.
He urged anyone who had been duped to lodge a police report immediately.