My sister was
almost a victim

Dear Tita,

I hope my letter will be a lesson for girls who are fond of communicating with guys through the Internet.

My sister, Sabel (not her real name), met Ken, an Australian, through the Internet. He said he was divorced from his wife and had a six-year-old daughter who was living with him. She fell for him because he seemed like a nice guy. He told her he wanted to marry her and that he was coming here very soon.

Sabel was so excited over her foreigner boyfriend and she told us that he wanted her to look for a nice house in a well-secured subdivision so he could buy it for her when he comes. We immediately went to a realtor and found a seven-million peso house and lot that we liked. Sabel even showed it to her friends who were all excited at her good fortune.

On the day that Ken was supposed to come, we were waiting for news of his arrival in Manila but after two hours, there was none. Finally, he called and said he was delayed because there was a question at the Immigration because of the money he was bringing with him to buy the house. We told him to contact their embassy so that the problem could be straightened out.

Ken told Sabel that he was having a difficult time and needed P20,000 so he could move around the city. He asked if we could send him the amount immediately so he could rush here and settle his account. Sabel wanted me to secure the amount he wanted but something made me pause and a flicker of doubt entered my mind.

I asked to speak to Ken and I told him to wait at the NAIA as I would request our uncle, who is an officer in the PNP, to look for him and give him the money. I told him our uncle would help him with his problem as he knows a lot of people.

When Ken heard this, he quickly said never mind about asking our uncle to look for him and he hang up the phone. That was the last we heard from him. Sabel tried to contact him through the Internet a lot of times but he never replied.

Later, a friend of ours in Cebu told us that she had a similar experience with her foreigner boyfriend who allegedly arrived in Manila and asked her to send him P25,000 so he could bring in the things he brought for her. She immediately borrowed the amount from her supervisor and sent it to him. After that, she never heard from him again.

Up to now, Sabel still hopes that Ken would get in touch with her and explain what happened. I told her to stop fooling herself and that she was almost a victim of a scam. If I didn’t listen to my “inner voice”, we probably would have sent Ken the P20,000 and would have waited for nothing.

I hope other young girls would read this letter and be forewarned.

OLDER SISTER

Dear Older Sister,

Your letter was certainly an eye opener for gullible girls, who wish to have a “rich” foreigner boyfriend who could give them the comfortable life they hope for. There have been so many stories of this kind and it’s a wonder why some people still get taken in.

One of the frequently-reported cases is the “budol-budol” scam. Even prominent and intelligent people in the community have been victimized.

Always keep this in mind: “When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is”.

TITA

back to top