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By Eunice Toh
*Shown above: The damaged rental car showing the real licence plate (mounted on the front bumper) with the fake plate on the dashboard.
He wanted to rent a car for a trip to Genting Highlands during the weekend, he said.
But when the time came for him to return the vehicle, he failed to show up.
He later called the car-rental company to say the car had been stolen.
The company suspected something amiss and decided to track the vehicle by Global Positioning System (GPS).
What they eventually discovered shocked them: The car had allegedly been sold to someone in Johor Baru.
The 34-year-old man, who claimed to be a businessman was a first-time customer at the car-rental company in Bukit Batok.
He visited the shop at 5pm on Friday, wanting to rent a car.
Said a staff member who wanted to be known only as Mr Liu: "He looked like a nice guy and he wasn't on our blacklist."
He rented a Toyota Altis, worth $30,000, for $230. He was supposed to return it by 5pm on Monday. But Monday came and went and he failed to show up.
At 1.30am on Tuesday, he suddenly called the 24-hour company and claimed that the car had been stolen.
He had also made a report to the Malaysian police.
As the company's cars could be located by iTrack, a real-time GPS Vehicle Tracking System, Mr Liu, 29, and his three colleagues drove to Malaysia to find the car.
They located it at about 2.30am at a Johor Baru road beside a bank and noticed that the licence plate had been changed.
They reported to a police station nearby, and together with the police, waited to see who would come to the car.
After about 20 minutes, two men approached the car. One of them opened the front door.
 
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