Budol-budol con artists scam 2 students out of laptops, phones, wallets

Several unidentified suspects who posed as recruiters inside a fast food restaurant on Rizal Avenue in Manila walked away with two students' phones, laptops and wallets.

In Oscar Oida's report for "24 Oras" on Wednesday, CCTV footage showed a group of men sitting with the students at a table for an "orientation."

According to the report, the men posed as members of an organization that helped children and abused women. Soon after, the students filled out forms and agreed to meet the supposed group's leader at a nearby restaurant.

The students put their valuables in their bags before leaving and left them with two of the "recruiters" who stayed behind.

CCTV footage then showed one of the remaining suspects changing his shirt, then both "recruiters" taking the bags with them as they left the restaurant.

"'Yung kanyang cellphone...lalagay niya sana sa pocket sa harap. Pinalagay niya sa bag tapos ang wallet niya, ang laman noon ay good for two weeks 'yon. Edi mga P1,000 'yung laman noong wallet niya. Pinalagay din 'yun sa bag," the grandmother of one of the victims told GMA News.

The Manila Police District urged the public to be more careful with their belongings—and to not be quite so trusting.

"Nag-identify sila kung sino magiging biktima nila. 'Yung mga walang capability katulad ng mga estudyante na madali nilang linlangin. Then kung makuha nila atensyon, kukunin ang gamit," Police Superintendent Jerry Corpuz of Manila Police District Station 7 said.

"Kagaya ng parating sinasabi natin sa publiko, ingatan nila gamit nila. maging mindful sa paligid nila at saka 'yung mga nakakausap nila, 'pag 'di nila kilala, huwag magtiwala," he added.

The grandmother said the suspects seemed sensible to the students.

"Kita mo naman 'yung istura noong mga ni-recruit, sasabihin mo na responsable, maayos," she said. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM, GMA News