70-year-old loses thousands in love scam

A 70-year-old woman in Davao ended up losing thousands to a chatmate who introduced himself as an American, but who turned out to be a scammer.

According to a "24 Oras" report by Jandi Esteban of GMA Regional TV One Mindanao, the victim, "Analyn," said she initially did not believe the promises of her chatmate, but eventually fell for his "charm."

“Sabi niya, I am going to the Philippines to marry you. He is going to help me to go to America, all my sisters are there in America,”  Analyn said.

The scammer eventually asked the victim for money to be used for travel to the Philippines and promised that it would be returned triple in value. Analyn sent up to P68,000 to the suspect.

Analyn was about to send P30,000 more when her grandchild noticed that the money was being sent to a Philippine address, which the scammer explained was a Filipino agent.

“Di ko gusto masayang ang pera niya kaya sinearch ko, mutual friend siya ng barkada ko dati. Chinat ko ang barkada ko na tattoo artist, sabi ko kilala mo ba ito? Sabi niya oo, kilala ko. Kasama niya raw nagta-tattoo. Di raw yun agent,” said Anne, the victim’s grandchild.

“Pag once lang ka chat ay humingi na ng pera at gumagawa ng kung anu-anong dahilan, mag-isip-isip na po tayo. Love month pa naman ngayon, nanamantala ang mga taong ito. Lumaban naman sila ng patas magtrabaho sila nang maayos,” said Regional Anti-Cybercrime Unit 11 Police Colonel Ricardo Punzalan.

The authorities will investigate the suspect, who may face charges for violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/LDF, GMA Integrated News