Man nabbed for allegedly creating fake website that scams buyers

“Willy” was excited while shooting an unboxing video of the new safety boots he had just bought from a website for P2,000.

But his excitement instantly turned into disappointment after the package he received contained a pair of women’s sandals and a pair of used rubber shoes.

“Inis, kasi siyempre pinagpaguran ko yung pera na ipinambili. Hindi naman basta basta yung buhay namin dito sa construction tapos ganuon lang,” Willy said in an exclusive report by Emil Sumangil on 24 Oras.

(Annoyed, since I worked hard for the money that I spent. My life in construction isn’t a joke and then this happens in return. I won’t make the same mistake again. I thought it was only on Facebook that this kind of scam happens.)

The Philippine National Police- Anti Cyber Crime Group (PNP-ACG) said they have received a lot of similar complaints from items that were ordered from a website that supposedly sells shoes, clothes and various accessories.

One package even contained just rags.

Acting on several complaints on Wednesday, the PNP-ACG laid out an entrapment operation that led to the arrest of a suspect who allegedly created a fake website and social media pages where the packages came from. 

Police said the scammers copied legitimate retail stores.

P/Captain Michelle Sabino of the Anti Cyber Crime Group, Eastern Police District  said the scammers “create fictitious pages, making other people believe na legitimate itong mga pages na ito. Kung makikita mo, yung mga imitated pages na yan, andaming followers.”

(If you look at it, these imitated pages have plenty of followers.)

The partner courier itself of the suspect filed a complaint against him after they received reports from victims they received packages that had content different from what they ordered.

“Yung company nila ang nasisira sa publiko. Yung mga nade-deliver daw nilang produkto, cash on delivery, pagbukas ng package, sira. Once na maideliver na yung product, its either substandard or fake,” Sabino said.

(It was their company that was looking bad in public. The products they were delivering, cash on delivery, once out of the package were either broken, substandard or fake.”

GMA Integrated News tried to get the suspect’s side but he has refused to comment.—RF, GMA Integrated News