“My Dad is a grab driver. He usually leaves at 5.30 am and comes back home at 10+pm…

Please don’t. These hardworking people do not deserve it” – Sarah

The 10 Hong Kong Dollar Scam

Sarah’s father is a hardworking Grab driver who is on the road for about 14 hours everyday. He usually leaves his house at 5.30 am and only returns after 10.00 pm. Aside from a 1 – 2 hour break he takes in the afternoons, he works continuously throughout the day to provide for his family.

In the course of his work, he meets many passengers. One passenger in particular, who he picked up on 8 July 2022 for a relatively short 2.2km ride, left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The passenger was supposed to pay 8.80 for his trip. Out of this 8.80, 6.80 would go to the driver and about 1.70 would go to Grab.

When it came time to alight, the passenger told the driver that he did not have enough Singapore dollars on him. He then extended a 10 Hong Kong Dollar note to the driver and said “I pass you HKD as I do not have SGD at the moment”.

The driver, who did not know how much 10 HKD was worth in Singapore Dollars, asked the passenger if he was sure that the value was equivalent.

The passenger said yes and left immediately.

10 HKD is worth 1.8 SGD

When Sarah’s father arrived home, he handed the note to Sarah and informed her of what happened. When Sarah checked online for the conversion rate of SGD to HKD, she found out that 10 HKD was only worth SGD 1.78.

When Sarah’s father learnt that, he asked Sarah if the man would have known the value of the note.

In essence, due to Grab’s commission, the driver earned $0 from the ride.

Although the quantum involved was not high, the driver was especially saddened as he trusted the passenger, and the passenger had abused his trust.

Ibrahim suggested that Sarah ask her Dad to download an currency exchange app to avoid similar situations in future.

Reported the Matter to Grab

According to Sarah, Grab does not allow the driver to see the details of passengers. Thus, she was not able to ascertain the identity of the scammer.

In the hopes of ensuring that no one goes through what her father went through, she reported the matter to Grab.

Users called on Grab to act swiftly against the errant passenger.

Many people stepped forward to compensate the Driver

In the comments section of Sarah’s TikTok video, which has garnered more than 40,000 views in just over 12 hours, was filled with good samaritans who wished to compensate the Driver and treat him to a meal.

In politely declining the kind offers, Sarah said that her father was more sad about the misplaced trust than the money.

You can view the video Sarah uploaded on TikTok here:-

We hope Sarah’s father gets the justice he deserves. Such acts against our blue collar workers should not be taken lightly.

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