Scorn the scammers!

Last week I got a call from Mila (not her real name) asking me if our company had a raffle which gave out a half million prize. She wanted to verify if we did have such a promo, telling me in her sing-song Hiligaynon how glad she was, she called.

"Bal-an mo Ma'am," she said "gin padal -an ko sila sang P2,700. Kay need nila kuno for money transfer registration. Daw indi man ko magpati pero gin padal-an ko lang kay kun gin into man nila ko, te si Lord nalang gid bahala sa ila." (You see Ma'am, I sent them P2,700 because they said they need it for the money transfer registration. I did not want to believe them but I thought that if they were conning me then God will deal with them.)

I had to bite my lip from making a nasty retort. Wanting to shake her for being so... but then her good natured voice repeated her stand to me.."If they swindled me — as you have confirmed to me now," referring to my negation of such a promo, "then God will deal with them for me. I am no longer employed since I am already retired. It is really up to God. I will not cry over the money even if it was something I could use for my maintenance medications; but I will leave them up to God."

I had to kick myself a second time so I will not react unkindly. During moments like this I also have the strong urge to shake some sense into the victims of scams to perhaps wake up that dormant sense in them and it took an enormous restraint to just shut up and be more sympathetic.

I think I have dedicated two column editions to just discuss how one can be swindled.  But I guess there is no harm in reiterating!

Scams come in many forms and the fact that the social media is very accessible, this becomes easiest avenue for triggering a scam.

Recent scams that have confronted me are those that deal with job placement and raffles. Again I would like to emphasize, no company who has promotional or marketing campaign will require money for you to claim the prize. So if money is asked in whatever form, THINK!  Not even those who give bank accounts may necessarily be authentic. In the first place note if you ever joined any raffle at all.

Regarding jobs, no company requires any payment for medical or psychological exams, more so for placement fees from applicants. And companies of repute, do not interview over the phone. Those who do a preliminary teleconference do so with images where the interviewer is visible. And by no means will officers of very high rank conduct interviews over the phone, let alone hire do the hiring.

Sometimes applicants tend to find the interviewer credible because the con artist on the other end uses names of people found in the corporate annual report posted on the websites.

The swindlers are articulate and well-versed with the corporate profile of the company they supposedly represent.

Of late the people who recruit supposedly on behalf of our company use the public money delivery systems  or money transfer outlets.

They use job websites as their fishing ground for victims and even scour various Facebook entries to generate personal information like educational backgrounds, contacts (other friends) and interests.  That is why it is important to leave a little privacy in one's FB account.

The fakes are educated, scheming and techie. They research well and have hacking prowess.  But the basic rule remains, don't talk to strangers. 

For winnings, you can't win something you haven't joined.

Here are some signs of a scam according to Andy O'Donell: a) it involves money; b) it poses urgency; c) it is something that seems too good to be true; d) it asks you to install something or gives numbers or a combination that will require one to follow a series of malware installation processes; and e) some introduce the element of fear saying you may have installed a malware which may require you to pay some penalties. Thus, leading you to do some ransomware to pay the fine so everything will be okay.

So let us be vigilant and report fraudulent activities like these. And before I forget,  do not pay anything to anyone for a favor, a job, a winning, or an item you did not order.