Circumstances of the criminal confidence trick performed by con man fraudster : Siew Yang Soon

Friday October 30, 2009. We we took a ride in Singapore Prime Taxi driven by con man Mr. Siew Yang Soon. He is Chinese and wears glasses, greasy hair, unhealthy looking skin. very smooth talker.

When we arrived at the Singapore to Jahor Taxi exchange the meter read $14.

He pressed a few buttons on the meter and it then displayed $48.

He said the airport surcharge was $34.00. The next cab driver who drove us was horrified, he said the surcharge is only $3.00.

When we insisted on a receipt after he changed the fare, he simply gave us a blank one, he would not complete it. The “Official Receipt” for “Prime Taxi” is No: 24175

He was trying to walk us to the taxi we were going to take to Jahor, he was being very polite, and then we realized he was hoping we would forget one large luggage that was in his boot/trunk.

The Taxi is a metallic (copper?) colored Toyota Corolla

The driver said he was a car salesman before he became a taxi driver

The revision mirror inside the car (attached to windscreen) has a small sticker on mirror at top left that says “Type R”. I believe that is a type of Honda Civic sports car. The logo looks something like this:
http://image.importtuner.com/f/18422245/impp_0907_11_z+honda_civic_type_r+logo_shot.jpg

Glued to the console between the driver’s and passengers seat is a rectangular “tip” tray that has the Christian “Fish” symbol printed on the bottom (although he did not know what the symbol was). The for corners flare out a little bit. The symbol looks like this:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CZ7wkeP9OYE/Sc5YXhxGzNI/AAAAAAAAAaA/ihlC_zEosYw/s320/christian+fish.gif

He picked us up at the taxi rank under Air Asia at almost precisely 12 Noon. He dropped is off at the Singapore Taxi Stand hat goes to Jahor at 12:18PM.

We would like a refund of the $34 please. He is a disgrace to the industry and your country. It was an unpleasant introduction to what is supposed to be a highly regulated country with high standards against corruption.

We emailed the Prime Taxi company, they were very helpful, but aren't going to issue a refund. We ahve two witnesses vs. the Taxi Drivers word:

From: Siti Rafidah <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:11:56 +0800
To: Passenger
Subject: Re: Prime Taxi: Receipt 24175

Dear Sir,

I had investigate the case & taxi number is SHD2346Z. According to taxi driver, meter fare is $14.80 + $3.00 airport surchargae. Total meter fare $17.80. Driver

told he did gave you change of $32.00. During that time is heavy jam & driver load out you luggage. He did not filled up the manual receipt because you were rushed at that time &

caught in heavy rain.

Regards
Siti Rafidah
[email protected]

My response:

Dear Siti,

He gave $2.00 change. My associate Marko specifically requested confirmation of the $34 charge and the driver insisted that it was the airport charge.

I made a mistake on my earlier email, I misunderstood what Marko said happened with the meter. Marko said that the meter was originally $14 upon arrival, then he pressed button to display $34, he added $14 +$34 and gave only $2 change from $50.

It was raining when we left the airport, it was not raining when we arrived at Singapore/Jahor taxi stand. We were not rushed, in fact we were negotiating between Malaysian and Singaporean taxi drivers for the best fare.

You driver is a liar and a scammer. Marko and I will gladly sign sworn statements as to his crime. We are both men of means and $34 represents maybe 5 minutes work for either of us. We are bringing this to your attention and asking for a refund on principal, not financial reasons.

What is the taxi driver’s name please?

Regards,
Passenger

Prime Taxi's Response

From: Siti Rafidah <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:26:23 +0800
To: Passenger
Subject: Re: Prime Taxi: Receipt 24175

Hi Mr Passengerl,

I understand your situation but this is the msg given from the driver & we do not have any proof who is in fault. However, you can complaint this matter to LTA taxi number SHD2346Z, driver name Siew Yang Soon.

Thank You & Regards
Siti