BRAND TALK
Don’t be a victim to online cryptocurrency scams
Have you seen fake ads of Vice Ganda, Boy Abunda, and Angel Locsin promoting investment schemes that promised large returns over a short period? Or, perhaps you’ve come across the fake ads featuring President Duterte or a government official endorsing cryptocurrency scams?
With the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment and business operations, it is especially deplorable that scammers are taking advantage of the situation. Make sure you are armed against these unscrupulous scammers. Here are ways to help you identify and altogether avoid these new money scams.
The Marcos “relative”
One incident, reported last October 14, involved a man who posed as an heir of the Marcos family and scammed people promising that they would get a share of the inheritance that was coming his way.
Malbert Marcos posed as a relative of the Marcos family and promised his victims gold certificates for their investments. In the meantime, he would also ask them to shell out money for their meetings held in hotels and borrow cars for his use. Eventually, the people he was trying to scam noticed something was amiss when he did not return a vehicle he supposedly borrowed and charged him with carnapping.
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) found that the gold certificates he owned were fakes, but Marcos denied all complaints against him. By name dropping a wealthy, prominent family and weaving them into his story, the suspect had reportedly started scamming people as early as 2012.
This particular scam involving the Marcoses has been reported as far back as 1997, and many have fallen victim to it. When it comes to investment schemes involving big prominent names and your hard-earned money, one should always do the research. Always check legitimate news outlets and authentic accounts.
“Investing” in bitcoin
A new scam involving bitcoin has also involved President Duterte and Secretary of Finance Carlos Dominguez III where their names have been used to promote fake cryptocurrency trading platforms, such as “Bitcoin Revolution.”
In a post on the self-publishing platform called “Medium,” Secretary Dominguez was supposedly interviewed by popular actor and comedian, Vic Sotto, asking him to share tips on building wealth and says that Dominguez claims to have made money through the trading platform.
The post also claimed that the platform was backed by prominent tech tycoons Richard Branson, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates. The Department of Finance has since denied making this endorsement and issued a statement to warn the public of this unauthorized trading platform.
Fast returns in cryptocurrency
Another scam involving cryptocurrency trading found 26 victims losing a total of half a million pesos to a friend who promised growth in their investment with the help of a trader. Things seemed to go smoothly in the first few months, but when the scammer stopped communicating with the victims, left his house, and was nowhere to be found, the victims had no choice but to report it to the authorities.
When you receive investment offers and business opportunities like these, make sure to protect yourself and your money by asking the right questions. Only brokers, dealers, or salespeople registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may offer or sell SEC-registered securities to the public. Always ask for their name, company, company and home address, contact details, and required SEC registration and licenses.
Check and verify the company’s name with the SEC’s Corporate Governance and Finance Department or the Market and Securities Regulation Department. You can find their contact information here.
Money is certainly difficult to come given by today’s circumstances. That is why we should be doubly cautious with investment and business opportunities that promise an abundance of returns in a short time. Always check with the proper authorities on the investments’ legitimacy to safeguard the money you have worked hard for.
Where to invest
The safest investments are those that are guaranteed by the government. In these uncertain times, there can be no safer investment than government bonds. They not only yield guaranteed returns while protecting the principal; they also help finance the country’s development needs.
Government bonds are a safe, secure, and patriotic way to invest. To make investing in these instruments convenient, the government has partnered with banks to open online facilities for buying bonds. Go to https://www.treasury.gov.ph/premyobonds/ to see how you can buy the latest issue of government retail bonds. Premyo bonds offer safe returns while providing you the opportunity to win prizes during their quarterly draws. You may also download the mobile app Bonds.PH to purchase retail government bonds.
During these times, people can make irrational decisions driven by emotions. It is natural to get attracted to financial gain. But if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Protect your hard-earned money. Watch out for red flags and do some digging.
The government is also pursuing reforms to make investing in legitimate opportunities easier and simpler. The Duterte administration's proposed Passive Income and Financial Intermediaries Taxation Act (PIFITA) will lower the tax rate on interest for small savers and simplify the tax regime for bonds and stocks by reducing the number of tax rates on financial transactions from 80 to 36. Once enacted, PIFITA will make it easier for everyday Filipino investors to put their money in safe and secure investment opportunities.
To learn more about how to invest safely, you may check out the investor’s education and information website of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Where to report
Report suspicious investment schemes to the Enforcement and Investor Protection Department of the SEC through e-mail at epd@sec.gov.ph or through landline at (02) 8818-6337. Under the Securities Regulation Code, those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers, or agents of fraudulent investment schemes may be held criminally liable and penalized with a maximum fine of P5 million or imprisonment of 21 years, or both.
Report suspicious messages to the NBI Anti-Fraud Division at (02) 8525-4093 or e-mail at afad@nbi.gov.ph. Alternatively, you may also send a message through the NBI’s website at www.nbi.gov.ph or their official Facebook account.
For suspicious online messages, report these incidents to the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) through its website at www.pnpacg.ph, through hotline number at (02) 8723-0401, or through email at acg@pnp.gov.ph.