WARNING: A SCAM TARGETING NGOs About two weeks ago, I received a text message purportedly from a roaming number of a member of a group from North Carolina called SFF. The message indicated that they had sent two boxes for YATTA (our youth theater organization). The message was intended for our BOT Chair, but used my number. I didn’t think about it too much until a woman texted me allegedly from East Coast Logistics, saying that the boxes were in Subic, and that there were extra charges because of customs. I have previously received packages from the US and this seemed pretty consistent, as even a box of pencils and school supplies to be donated to a church school incurred quite a bit of fees. So I sent the money (P740) they indicated via LBC to a certain Jinky Montante. I made a quick web search of SFF and East Coast Logistics. There were several hits, but both had some presence in NC, so it corroborated somehow the storyline. There was a church group and a foundation that bore the SFF acronym, so there was some logic to these groups reaching out to YATTA, and also a cargo service provider East Coast Logistics from NC. But two days later, another text message came saying that the boxes were delivered to the municipal hall of Bogo in the northern tip of Cebu. The woman, who used the name Rosalie Sevilla, said that a delivery truck dropped off at the local government. Although I was quite irritated with the inefficiency of the East Coast Logistics (I even sent them an FB message complaining about the service), Rosalie and I explored how best to send it, and we agreed that it could be via Ceres bus. She mentioned the prices of tickets, which were consistent with the passenger bus fare we are familiar with, and so we arranged to send her the amount of Php1,200 (300 x 2 boxes X two bus trips) plus barge fees. I send the amount via Western Union. The final message was sent the same evening, claiming that there was still a lacking amount from the cargo loading cost. I spoke to the manager of the shipping line, and he offered to help to advance the fee if I could find who the person was. When a name finally emerged, a certain Mark Jun Bullo, the manager said the name is not one of their own employees. But he mentioned that indeed there is a cost that is incurred for loading the cargo. So with this information, a final amount of P780 was sent for this purpose with their instruction that the boxes can be claimed at the Ceres Bus Terminal. The boxes never arrived. All the mobile numbers used by the supposed Subic based contact, Rosalie Sevilla in Bogo, and Mark Jun Billo in Oslob cannot be reached now. The total earnings of the scammers were close to P3,000. Although I know of people who have been scammed and robbed of painful amounts of money compared to ours, it’s still money stolen from a struggling organization that could have been used to support more meaningful activities for children and the youth. As I think of the plot developed by the scammers, I realize there was a great deal of thought and detail that had gone into their planning, creating the fictional beleaguered journey of the two boxes from North Carolina to Subic, to Bogo in Cebu and then to Oslob, with reasonable amounts requested corresponding to the costs of transfer and all. I know I could have raised alarm earlier and demanded more proof of the boxes’ existence right from the beginning. I was too busy to think more clearly. Now I know better. I just pray that other civil society organizations would be more vigilant of this yet another mode of scamming and will not fall for their schemes. What else can I do? Should I inform the police or NBI about this? Should I write to the money remittance companies (LBC, Western Union, the Lhuilliers) to alert them of these names? Meantime, please feel free to share with your groups. May God bless us all. Dessa Quesada YATTA Artsitic Director
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 13:59:39 +0000
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