Scheming scams: Think!

I have been called several times to ask if we have a promo at work that grants prizes as high as P500 thousand. We do. Our competitions are well-published and the entries are all official, but we make announcements for our events and marketing promotions. We do not just text out of the blue and ask you to send money through an accredited bank to claim your prize. Ugh!

There’s the major catch. NO PROMOTION OR COMPETITION WILL REQUIRE YOU TO PAY FOR YOUR PRIZE.

There are many scams nowadays by scheming black souls. I receive texts that ask me to text back the amount they supposedly accidentally sent me. Some even insult our IQ by claiming they are from this and that telecom and use the local dialect in stating their advisory on how to claim your prize. Sometimes they insult us further by using the name of a telecom and the number that appears on the screen is of a competing service provider. Utterly despicable!

Sadly, there are still some who fall into the trap as the schemers are somehow leveling up their skills. They have learned to use a shorter number of digits as well in their advisories.

So before we succumb, let us THINK. First, did we ever join any raffle or promotion or contest of the company or alleged agency that is asking us to claim a prize? If you have indeed joined one, call the office of the company to verify. But remember, NO PRIZE IS PAID FOR unless it does not include the taxes. And if it pertains to taxes, the Bureau of Internal Revenue has a representative there to help you with your tax duties although most of the time, the one who sets up the promo usually pays for the taxes already and indicate such in their promotional with taglines like “tax free.”

Processes are open and legitimate. You do not have to pass through an assigned bank and do your transactions prior to claiming your prize. Just think, why should you pay for a tax on something that is not yet even in your possession?

When the promo begins to require the following think again: you have to pay; you have to wire money; you have to deposit a check sent to you or send a portion of its cash equivalent to verify identity (you’ll end up with a bouncing check); your “notice of winning” is sent through mail.

There are other scams that are rampant now. You receive foreign mail that talks about diamonds in Africa; bonds in Nigeria or wherever; and a ridiculous mail from your friend who is seated beside you seeking your help because he has been robbed in London and needs you to send him enough money in a specified bank account so he can go home.

When you open these mails, spam or malware, they are given access to information on you. So if you don’t know the sender, delete the mail without reading.

Sometimes the frauds also use legitimate businesses or government offices as their “front” to pose legitimacy. So before you turn into a victim, check them out, and report them to the nearest consumer protection office or Department of Trade and Industry, call the National Telecommunications Commission, the National Bureau of Investigation or the local police.

And for the schemers, remember the Lord destroys “those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the blood-thirsty deceitful man.”