my sister was scammed

@SIMPLYD (90721)
Philippines
March 7, 2013 3:00am CST
My sister who runs the snack inn business of my other sister was scammed. She received a call from the barangay captain that the parish priest has requested that my sister prepare foods for 40 persons. Then , the parish priest called her that he is in a far province but will be coming to my sister’s place with the other delegates. He wants it at 5pm. At 11:00 am he called and asked my sister to buy for him loads from different networks because he will call the other delegates from other places. At first my sister refused because she said she doesn’t have a loading station, but just also did it when the priest said he will pay it when they arrive for the food at 5pm and pay them all. Only to realize later after my sister bought him loads , that the caller was not actually our parish priest. Oh how could my sister believed that caller.! Imagine a priest calling for him to be loaded when he can call his assistants if ever true to do it for him.
3 people like this
12 responses
@KrauseHome (36447)
• United States
8 Mar 13
This just goes to show when people are calling asking for money or help with things involving a little bit more of money than you might be comfortable with, you need to remember to do research with before doing it. So if it is real most of the people will understand, but if it was instead a scam, you will be glad you listened. There are a lot of scams out there, so people just need to be aware.
1 person likes this
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
My sister was so naive of this scam, because they are in a remote town. But now they know because i told them of the various scam and warned them to never give money to anyone claiming to be someone.
• Pamplona, Spain
8 Mar 13
Hiya simplyd, Sorry to hear that she was scammed like that. Its such a shame that things turn out this way. Perhaps the one who called sounded or imitated the Parish Priest and she took it to be him himself. It can happen to anyone none of us is free from confusion in such an event because by phone its harder to tell what is really going on. Next time she will surely be much more alert and not be so willing to take any action. Once bitten twice shy. xxx
• Pamplona, Spain
9 Mar 13
Hello simplyd, For the Priest to warn everyone is a great thing and not only that its great you have written about it too that way it gets around more about what happened and make it much much harder for people to fall for the same thing. Like I think that none of us is free from this altogether and there are people who can imitate others very well perhaps it was someone really close in the community you never know.xxx
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
9 Mar 13
Yes, the person indeed imitated that sound of the priests voice. But i wonder how th caller came to know how the priest sounded. My sister told the real priest about what happened to her , and the priest informed the community in his sermon the following Sunday. That way others are warned of the various ways of the scammers.
1 person likes this
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
11 Mar 13
I was just sad that there were already some of them in our town who was scammed, yet they kept it for themselves. I admire my sister for having the courage to let it be known without thinking of herself as the laughing stock in the course of it.
@offlimits (596)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
I'm sorry to hear that. There really are a lot of scams now! I had a similar experience one time I was alone here in our house when someone called. He said he's a lawyer and told me that my mom got into an accident and hit a child with her car. At first I got nervous that he was a lawyer but of course he's lying because mom never took the car! And his story was very strange and I got annoyed so I hang up the phone and sent a message to my mom. All is well with her but I hope that scam artist rot in hell for fooling people.
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
How awful! And of course the maids are going to be blamed if they were fooled by those heartless people! I get those kind of messages too. I wonder how they get people's numbers though. Do they just guess or have some sort of a list for them to send messages all at once or what :|
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
9 Mar 13
Yes the maids can be blamed. But after it is known that she really indeed is scammed, i think we can just understand her predicament during that time. I think they just pattern the cellphone numbers to the networks and change their last digits when they try to text someone to scam. And when it answers back, they have a new victim.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
Oh that is what is common here in the Philippines too. Usually they do that to the maids who are left at home because their masters are at work. I also always get a text message from a lawyer saying that i won a prize. I didn't believe because i didn't join any lottery or contest.
@rog0322 (2829)
• Cagayan De Oro, Philippines
7 Mar 13
Hi, Bad luck getting scammed by a person posing as a priest. I don't go for transaction involving calls and text message, that extends to online transactions over USD50. When it involves large amount of money, it is always prudent to be sure by having the real person at hand, with the issue of an official receipt if possible.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
Oh don't be fooled also by a person giving an OR over a sum of money. Our office was scammed by a group of agents who asked for us to let them have 15 minutes to offer Grollier encyclopedia. After that they asked who will order, then they asked for a downpayment. One gave a downpayment. But after a week despite calls they weren't answering. Our office was scammed too, by real persons who came.
@airkulet (2700)
• Philippines
7 Mar 13
how about the food did your sister prepare it too, scammer is now elevating this is my first time to hear about the priest and the food order which looks legit but when the caller ask for loads I think that is something she should suspect
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
It's the order for the foods for 40 persons indeed that made it seemed legit to my sister. Actually, she was hesitant when the load request was called, because the stores are far from the eatery. They discovered that it was a hoax, when my brother in-law went to the parish convent to ask the priest's staff what usually would the priest wants prepared for his guests. He was told that the priest was sleeping since he came from a mass he performed in the town's island. Not as the caller said that they are in a far province and is still travelling to go to our town! My sister was so naive that there are scams that asks for load. But i told her, didn't you get suspicious why he hasn't called his assistants to give him loads but instead it was you?
• Indonesia
13 Mar 13
oouuccch,, Your sister have to be careful, there many people like that out there. My aunty has friend who runs a seafood restaurant. One day they received an oreder for about 20 person and will pick up on lunch time. When the time is knocking to 1pm, no one come to pick the order. No one call back to confirm if the order is canceled or not. No one come till the restaurant closed. They already spent lot of money to prepare the order but can't sell it because it's not in the menu list. Since that happen the restaurant never receive any order if the preson not come to pay for the 60% of the total price.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
14 Mar 13
So your aunt's restaurant was scammed also. Although no money was involved, her restaurant incurred expenses consequently loss. Yes, a restaurant should not rely on orders by call, specially if it involves a big amount. It should be validated and paid at least 60% just as what your aunt is doing now. My sister is a simple woman. So she easily was lured into that scam. But now she knows already.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
7 Mar 13
Wow! if this was me, i would not have been scammed because i do not know our parish priest and that I am not a church goer in our parish and do not know anyone in there. :D I think these groups of people are already in the know of what to do and how to scam your sister, according to your story they called her many times, and they seemed to be too quick and the only response was also to act quickly and agree leaving no room for your sister to realize that they have other plans. The caller probably sounded too confident of his role as the parish priest. Hayz that is sad though that they now resort to using a parish priest to do these things. I guess next time your sister would have to verify it yet again to be sure that she is talking to the right person. It really is a difficult thing to over come that you have been fooled but this will serve as a lesson to her to be mindful, always asking questions, and not too trusting especially if she feels something is not right.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
It was discovered after that, that somebody who went to the municipal hall and introduced himself as a priest was asking for a place where they will eat ( with 40 others) for a future event. My sister's eatery was given and the cellphone number was also given. Then he asked for the name of the parish priest , so i think that's what why he posed as the parish priest when he called my name. Thus, that's why they get to scam my sister.
• Philippines
7 Mar 13
Hello SimplyD, inconsiderate costumers, makes you wonder why there aren't much investors in this area. some customers are selfish and greedy and probably iresponsible too. reminds me of one of the lease that i visited today which was video city, the site that offers video renting services. but here's the problem, some users don't bother bringing the CD back for no reason or lazy purposes. i mean, they had to call them up just to remind them of the penalty of the movie they rented. how lame, they're really selfish and LAZY!
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
I am confused with your response , Letran. It seems that you are trying to answer another discussion. Or does it mean that those scammers are just lazy people, who orders but don't mean it?
@nemrac12 (388)
• Philippines
7 Mar 13
hello mylotter, scammers are rampant now a days. i hope loads were not too big gave by your sister. that will be a lesson to her.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
Yes, scammers are indeed rampant. My sisters live in a secluded town far from the city. Usually scammers operates on the city. But now, they go to towns already. It is more or less for about $75 if we convert it to US dollar at PhP40.00 per US$. Now they now how these scammers operate. Besides, they informed the real parish priest about it, who told the people in the masses on Sunday. That way the people are also warned. It turned out after town people have known about it, that there were already lots of them scammed also. They are just ashamed to let people know that they were scammed.
@tiffnkeat (1673)
• Singapore
7 Mar 13
It's so sad to read of such trickery. I am sure your sister must be so upset. I hope that whoever scammed her does not get away scot-free, but I doubt he will ever be found. Maybe you could ask your sister to approach the telephone company and trace where the call came from IF she decides to pursue the matter. However, it may also be a futile exercise. Hopefully with this lesson, your sister will be more careful. Maybe she could work out some ways to verify the caller or only entertain phone orders for customers who had pre-registered (in person) with her business. Just my 2-cents (er.. maybe even just 1-cent) suggestion. Take care, and console your sister. I am sure she needs it.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
When the chief of police was informed about it, he was sorry. He told my sister that they could have apprehended them, had he not called to inform the scammer that their fraud is already discovered. But my sister was so angry that all she had in mind was to lambast the caller after she had known that she was scammed. The best thing that she had done though, is informed the priest of what happened , thus the priest in his Sunday mass warned all the parishioners. At least, she helped in preventing it to happen to others also.
@enelym001 (8322)
• Philippines
7 Mar 13
Sad that even the priest's name were used now to scam people! I hate people doing such. They might be the happiest person whenever they get to fool people but karma will strike them back any moment. Hopefully next time your sister will call back the person after talking to them, just so she can verify whether it's true or not. A lot have tried to fool me before, sending sms or chatting with me.. glad, that I have never fallen into such scam even once.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
8 Mar 13
Sad really that even the name of the priest was used. My sister lives in a remote town, thus she's naive to this kind of scam. But now she knows. She even went to the real parish priest to tell him the story , thus the priest had it announced on his Sunday masses so the people will be warned. It turned out that there are already a number of them in the town that was also scammed. They just didn't make it know to others because they were ashamed. But my sister thought otherwise.
@roshigo58 (4859)
• Pune, India
7 Mar 13
hi, It is very strange experience your sister has. Your sister is being cheated by taking the name of the priest. The heater must be punished strictly. Your sister must has to bear a big loss. Really it was a big mistake of your sister who believed that fraud person.
@SIMPLYD (90721)
• Philippines
7 Mar 13
She said that the caller was indeed the voice of our parish priest who we personally know, so she believed. And it was even telling her and the barangay captain to provide security. Thus, when another caller called and he said he is the chief of police of our place and sounded like him as he knows him personally, she already believed. So i told them, next time never ever believe anyone telling them to send a load or that they won a prize when they didn't join any contest. The real chief of police when told about this said, she should have not called the caller to tell him they know that he is a fraud. She should have let them come at 5pm as they told her previously so they could apprehend them. But i thought otherwise, because they have already scammed her, so they won't be coming anymore for their reserved foods.