Philippines Scams & Warnings

Archive for the ‘e-mail scams’ Category

The simple advice I or anyone can give is that if you are asked for money in any form, bale out fast. Internet cafes are cheap and affordable for all Filipinos bar the very poor and why chase one of those? You will have absolutely nothing in common with her if she is so poor she can’t afford twenty cents for an hour online.

Demands for cash come in many guises. The clever ones don’t ask outright, they just tell you their tale of woe and you offer from the goodness of your heart. After all, it’s only funny money. But even peso’s add up.

If she is so unlucky as to be a walking disaster area then you are best out of it. How did she manage her life before you rode up on your cyber white stallion? Why is it your mission in life to fix hers? Are you marrying someone to love or somebody you can impress and have grateful to you? That doesn’t last long and she will soon expect more and more.

Filipinas are no different than any other woman when it comes to the core reasons for a relationship. They are just lots of them, fairly accessible and tend to overlook things their western sisters wouldn’t. Of course, bottom line is that if you were dating a woman in your home town it could cost you a hundred bucks a night for dinner and drinks, probably more. So why not send her twenty bucks and enjoy the charade? Play the game and see if you can catch her out, then have a giggle together over it.

Nothing wrong with that so long as you know she’s scammin’ and don’t mind. Like the other day my wife had her credit card stolen and asked me to have it cancelled. I checked with the bank and told her to forget it, the thief was spending less than she did!

A number of Australian buyers have been ripped off with this scam, if you try to purchases something online and told the item is out of stock and that you should deal with the supplier in the Philippines directly before very cautious.

This is what happens…
Someone in Australia (probably a Filipino) advertises item at a bargain price. When the buyer contacts them they say that they have run out of stock and the buyer should contact their supplier directly who is located in the Philippines. They also vouch for how reliable the supplier is, creating a false sense of security for the buyer.

The buyer will contact the Philippines supplier (via email), and in return receive a reply with the details of where the money should be sent for the goods (Usually a direct deposit or western union transfer). The buyer then sends the money and never hears from them again.

 This is the Filipino version of a very common type of scam:

Subject: FROM MRS LOI C ESTRADA

Dear Sir

My name is LOI C.ESTRADA,The wife of Mr. JOSEPH
ESTRADA, the former President of Philippines located
in the South East Asia.

My husband was recently impeached from office by a
backed uprising of mass demonstrators and the Senate.

My husband is presently in jail and facing trial on
charges of corruption, embezzlement, and the
mysterious charge of plunder which might lead to death sentence.
The present government is forcing my husband out of
Manila to avoid demonstration by his supporter.

During my husband’s regime as president of Philippine,

I realized some reasonable amount of money from
various deals that I successfully executed. I have
plans to invest this money for my children’s future on real
estate and industrial production. My husband is not
aware of this because I wish to do it secretly for
now.

before my husband was impeached, I secretly siphoned
the sum of $30,000,000 million USD (Thirty million United
states dollars) out of Philippines and deposited the money
with a security firm that transports valuable goods and consignments
through diplomatic means.

I am contacting you because I want you to go to the
security company and claim the money on my behalf
since I have declared that the consignment belong to
my foreign business partner. You shall also be
required to assist me in investment in your country.

I hope to trust you as a God fearing person who will
not sit on this money when you claim it, rather assist me
properly, I expect you to declare what percentage of
the total money you will take for your assistance.

When I receive your positive response I will let you
know where the security company is
and the payment pin code to claim the money which is
very important.

For now, let all our communication is by e-mail
because my line are right now connected to the
Philippines Telecommunication Network services. Please
also send me your telephone and fax number.

I will ask my son contact you to give you more details on
after i have received a responce from you.

Thank you and God bless you and family.

MRS LOI C ESTRADA