Another common scam I heard from other countries
By kingparker
@kingparker (9673)
United States
March 7, 2011 4:45pm CST
Here is another scam technique used by those scamsters on other countries; actually a friend of living in Mainland China, and that is what she told me. Her aunt has a daughter, and one day, her aunt received a phone call from a stranger, and stating that her daughter was involved in a car accident half hour ago, now she transported to a local hospital performing emergency surgery. She has to paid up for the emergency room fee and the surgery fee ASAP. The stranger on the phone giving her a wire number and told her to wire that money to this account. Without thinking, my friend's aunt rush to the bank, and ready to transfer that money. Fortunately, her husband came home, and told her to calm down. She make a quick call to her daughter's cell phone, and instantly, her daughter pick up the phone, and told them she is okay.
So, watch out on this scam. It might not only happen in China, it might apply to anywhere locally.
2 people like this
9 responses
@jennyze (7028)
• Indonesia
8 Mar 11
Yes, this was famous in Indonesia a couple of years back. So, I told my relatives to always have their cell phones on, just in case any of us got this kind of call we can check straight away if the news is correct.
Years ago, there were many people duped when they got a call that they won a car from a certain bank or telephone operator, however they need to transfer the prize tax fee in two days to claim prize. The call is normally done on Friday, so people rushed to send over some money which is around 10 - 15% of a car prize.
Another scam is through hypnotic call or act. The caller will lead people to an ATM where the receiver got some money and ask them to send some money over. I don;t know how a hypnotic can be done over the phone but it happened.
@jennyze (7028)
• Indonesia
8 Mar 11
Yes, I guess we need to be alert of these kind of scams. To bad, people just do what they want to get money. ore and more people do not use conscience in getting money because now money is everything for most people that they do no care how to get it as long as they get it.
@whengcat (1457)
• Philippines
8 Mar 11
Here in our country, it is called "Budol - Budol Gang". They perform some sort of voodoo and hypnotize you and make you do what they tell you even give them all your fortune.....it's so sad that its happening everywhere...taking extra care and presence of mind may help.
@toniganzon (72281)
• Philippines
7 Mar 11
This has been happening to our country, the PHilippines for several years now and some of the culprit were caught. Others continue to roam around the country and try to fool old people with this antique. They usually target older people because they are more vulnerable and susceptible to believe such lies.
I feel sorry for those who were victimized by such scheme. I don't know who was the very first person who would have thought of this kind of way to earn money at the expense of other people. 
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
7 Mar 11
Those scamsters should be caught, and they should be punished severely without mercy, don't you think? Those are our hard earn money, and they should know better how hard people work for it. For God's sake, what comes around, goes around.
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
8 Mar 11
That scam wouldn't work in my country, because we don't pay directly for medical help (it is paid through taxes) and we can get help without worrying about the bill, but in countries where you don't pay for hospitals through taxes you have to watch out for that kind of scam. When you hear about an accident you get shocked and scared and you want to help and I think that is the reason why some people just pay without doublechecking the information. The scammers take advantage of that 
@jaiho2009 (39141)
• Philippines
8 Mar 11
hello king,
This happens to me as well.
I received a text message saying that my daughter met an accident and lost her phone and gave my number to her (a rescuer).
that my daughter needs to call me about her condition but this rescuer doesn't have much load on her mobile so,i need to put money on her phone so that my daughter can use talk to me.
I stay calm and dialed my daughter phone and my daughter answered and told me that she's very much fine.
This is happening in our country,and so much scam other than this.
So,we should be careful and alert all the time.
Keep easy and never panic.
Have a great day
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
7 Mar 11
Hi kingparker, that sort of scam has already been going on in our country for years now but your is just the high tech version because it involves wire transfer, it is called " dugo,dugo scam" literally translated blood,blood so named because of the accident part in the scam.
Well one of our neighbors was victimized a few years back, somebody call the maid in their house and told them that her master just had an accident, the caller also told the maid that her master told her that she should destroy the cabinet, get all the valuables and cash and that somebody would pick it up for her, she did as instructed, poor girl, she was the one picked up by the police for questioning, really bad people
@ctabirao (70)
• Philippines
8 Mar 11
cause at times like this it is already hard to know if the maids were related to the scammers or not. sometimes specially if the maid is just new of course it would be easy for them to be one of the suspects.. but if its wrong poor maids.
Aside from we need really good police for scammer, we also need good investigators
@whengcat (1457)
• Philippines
8 Mar 11
My brother-in-law had the same experience, his only daughter is studying at FEU, Manila (here in Philippines). One day, they receive a text message allegedly from their daughter, telling them that she had an accident, needed some money etc..and also told them that her cell phone got lost during the accident that's why she's using other number....But fortunately, they're daughter's roommate at the dormitory is his wife's niece, so they called her and confirmed that their daughter is safe at the dorm....So they called the cell phone number who texted them and warned the person. The person hung-up.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
8 Mar 11
Amazing how lucrative the scamsters are getting. It is unfortunate for anyone caring enough to later find themselves being scammed.
It does not amaze that something like this can happen because the scammers know that people will be sensitive to such stories.
Thanks for sharing.
@send2noel (140)
• Saudi Arabia
8 Mar 11
may scammers burnt in hell. they just don't know what might happen to the family just in case they receive such calls. however, the best thing to do is always to verify, not to be panicky. also ask more questions to verify the accuracy of the person and also the hospital contact details.
