When I heard of the tsunami and earthquake in Japan, I remembered that my father was in China, although I wasn’t sure if their ship has left China. Prior to this, a few weeks ago I received a text message from my dad informing me of his new roaming number. It was weird because my father already has a roaming number which he had used for many years now.
So I texted his new and old number (just in case he’s using it again). He replied that he’s ok and said that they felt the earthquake, too. I texted “Ingat” and he replied with the same message. He sent me another text telling me that he has a problem. I asked what it was and he said that he may be sent back to the Philippines because there are problems with his documents at the agency. He needs 500 peso load so that he can call the agency. I said that I don’t have much cash and offered to send him 300 peso load instead. He agreed and I sent him load.
He texted again saying that he talked to the agency and he still needs to talk to the person who has his documents. He’s asking me to send 1000 pesos to a Smart Money account number. But I don’t have any money left. All this time I was assuming that he’s also texting my mother. And I was still a bit surprised because this is an important matter and I expected that he would text my mother instead of me with issues like this.
So I texted my mother and asked her to deposit the said amount to the account. I forgot ask her if my father was texting her, too, or if she knew that he had a new number. Then, I realized that with all of this happening so fast, I suddenly thought that maybe it was a scam.
So I tested him and asked for the name of his sister who lives in Caloocan. He completely ignored the question and kept sending messages saying he’s sorry for this and he doesn’t want to lose his job and all. I also told him that Junjun is still in the hospital and we can’t pay the bills. He said that he will buy medicines for Junjun. WTF! I don’t even have a brother named Junjun. I also asked him if he had already told mother. He said that he didn’t want to tell her because he doesn’t to upset her. Really?
Well, I realized this too late because when I called my mother in the province, she said that she had already sent 1000 pesos to the account number. Damn! I asked her if she knew that father has a new number and she said no. I told her that it was a scam. She exclaimed “Ah ah!!!”
So there, I spent the better part of this day being scammed and worrying that my father might lose his job. The good thing is, my real father is not in trouble and safe. The bad thing is we lost 1,300 pesos to a devious swindler.
Up to now I am still pretending to believe him. He still texts me to send 1k each to another two accounts! The nerve! So, to at least get a portion my money, I told him that I needed to call my mother so I asked for a Pasaload. He said that he can only send 30. So I got 30 pesos back from that swindling and deceitful motherf****r!
Here’s his number by the way, 09078753944. Is it possible to have this number blocked? How?
Call me stupid or gullible, but these things can happen unexpectedly. The best thing to do is to verify by asking information from a number you don’t know. Especially for those who have OFW parents or relatives. They usually say “Eto na bagong roaming number ko, musta na kayo dyan? Ingat kayo palagi.” Don’t fall for this! I did! And I thought I was too smart for this. But no!
This is another bad experience for me, and I don’t want this to happen to anybody. We should all be wary and careful when people ask money from us.
