Measures urged vs online ‘budol-budol’

MANILA, Philippines — To prevent online “budol-budol” and protect buyers from scams, Rep. Robert Ace Barbers yesterday asked the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and other government agencies to compel delivery service firms on the web to thoroughly check the identity of all sellers before transacting business with them.

The DTI, he said, should require online delivery service companies to help fight social media data-spoofing and online “budol-budol.”

He pointed out in a statement that the latest modus operandi of online “budol” targets houses with people whose only shopping behavior is to receive and pay cash on delivery (COD) parcels.

Barbers said scammers do this by reviewing the previous records of their target’s FB and other social media accounts, steal the personal data and send them low-value or worthless items.

“I have received numerous reports of people victimized by online scammers who steal personal data from targeted victims’ FB, Messenger or other social media accounts and use them to deliver bogus goods to victims, some of whom did not even order such goods,” added Barbers, who chairs the House committee on dangerous drugs.

Aside from asking the DTI to impose stringent measures, the Surigao del Norte representative also wanted online sellers to produce valid documents such as government issued identification cards “so that consumers can get back at them if necessary.”

“(Currently), if you get scammed, goodbye to your money. This scam has been on the rise but many cases are no longer being reported to authorities,” Barbers noted.