JOHOR BARU: A syndicate is believed to be selling fake bus tickets for the land Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL-Land), says Malaysian-Singapore Workers Task Force president S. Dayalan.

       “We have been getting complaints since last month from Malaysians who wanted to return home via VTL-Land and said they had been cheated,” he said.

       He estimated that “hundreds of people” could have been duped by the syndicate that operates out of Singapore.

       The conmen, he added, were taking advantage of Malaysians who were desperate to get home.

       “This syndicate claims that they can get the tickets on preferred dates,” he said after lodging a police report yesterday.

       Dayalan said an actual VTL-Land bus ticket is priced at S$15 (RM46) but the syndicate would sell the purported tickets for between S$100 (RM309) and S$200 (RM618).

       “However, after paying for the tickets, the victims found that their names were not on the list allowed to leave Singapore on the dates they wanted.

       “This is not a small matter as many Malaysians have been cheated and they wanted to come home for personal reasons,” he said.

       Dayalan urged authorities to reach out to their Singapore counterparts to find those responsible for selling fake VTL-Land tickets.

       When contacted, Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat confirmed the police report.

       Both Malaysia and Singapore commenced the VTL by air and land from Nov 29 last year but on a limited scale.

       The sale of bus and flight tickets for the VTL was temporarily suspended on Dec 23 last year due to rising Covid-19 cases.

       When sales resumed on Jan 21, the allocation for bus and flight tickets was reduced by 50% from the existing capacity for land and air routes.