SEC Davao warns vs another loan scam

DAVAO CITY—THE money fleecing activities of scammers just keep on coming. This time, the Davao Extension Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is warning the public of another scam, the advance fee loan scam.

It said the number of complaints against this scheme continued to increase.

“This fraudulent scheme, perpetrated by individuals or groups impersonating as representatives of legitimate financing or lending companies, are now resorting to a more elaborate scheme,” the SEC Davao office said.

It added that the scheme employed years ago was to collect an advance fee before purportedly releasing the loan amount. “These days, victims are led to believe that they have been approved for a loan and are provided with false evidence of a bank deposit purportedly representing the loan amount.”

“Victims are then informed that the deposit was sent to a wrong account number and are pressured into transferring an amount of money to rectify the supposed error so as to release the funds to their accounts,” said lawyer Katrina Ponco-estares, director of the SEC Davao Extension Office.

The SEC has issued previous advisories on advance fee scams on November 29, 2022, October 18, 2023, and most recently on January 26 this year.

“The SEC Davao Extension Office is calling on the public to exercise vigilance in dealing with financial transactions. Legitimate lending corporations do not require customers initial payments or fees to cover erroneous transactions. We urge the victims to promptly report these scams to the appropriate authorities, including the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation,” Estares said.

She said perpetrators of advance fee loan scams “are in violation of Article 315 Swindling (estafa) of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines.”