Capicena loses P123k to online scammer

By Felipe V Celino 

ROXAS CITY, Capiz— A 42-year-old woman complained with the Roxas City police station that she lost P123,000 to an online scammer.

Jane, a resident of this city, reported to the police that the scam started when she answered an online game that appeared in her social media account.

She said that she immediately answered the question, and she later received a message from a woman residing in Cavite but allegedly worked in Canada.

The woman, Jane added, asked if she needed money.

She replied that she did need money and she received screenshot photos from a certain Forex Account Manager Reynaldo Cruza.

According to her, Cruza assured that her P10,000 investment will increase to P100,000 in three days. She sent P10,000 through a remittance center on September 15-16, 2021.

Few days later, Jane said she received a message that she won P800,000 but she was asked by a man claiming to be a manager to deposit P10,000 for the police fee and another P10,000 for the customs fee.

After sending P20,000, Jane asked the manager when she will receive the winning money. But the manager again asked for another P60,000 for the company fee which she immediately sent hoping to get the prize as soon as possible.

Jane then asked the manager about the status of her prize but the latter told her that they could not deposit the winning money to her account after three attempts.

The manager said that he will send his secretary to the Philippines to bring the money to Jane, provided that she sends another P5,000 for the secretary’s hotel accommodation.

Jane began to doubt the deal when somebody from the Bureau of Customs informed her via email that the secretary was held at the airport after it was detected that she possessed a huge amount of money.

She was then asked again to deposit P40,000 as grease money or bribe for the police and the Customs personnel.

It was then that Jane decided to report the incident to the police who are still trying to solve the incident.