Filipino SMS Crooks Dupe Locals
By Azlan Othman

Bandar Seri Begawan - Gone are the days of the Nigerian scam. Now tricksters are only a touch away.

To be more specific, in the same region as you are. The only difference is now they are closer home and are more advanced in their dealings.

The latest money scam to hit Brunei is from the Philippines and on to the mobile phone via the indispensable SMS service.

Two recent victims who spoke to the Sunday Bulletin were a local couple who tearfully made a police report and a complaint to DST about a strange message they had received.

The couple on condition of anonymity, said they received an SMS that they had won a large sum of money at a 'four-digit mobile phone competition'.

One of the victims named only as Dyg Hjh told the Bulletin, "My husband and I received a message from the Philippines signed by Ms Martinis and Ms Catalina on the mobile phone saying that we had won a B$70,000 reward."

The message had said: "You have won a big reward of 2.5 Million Peso amounting to B$70,000 as your mobile phone number has been selected as a winner of the last four-digit mobile phone competition."

The message had then gone on to instruct them to deposit money amounting to B$1,562 to an account in the Philippines through a money transfer agent in the capital.

Dyg Hjh says her husband had been so taken in by the message that he had even sold his car to find the requested amount of money.

The message had reassured them that the prize money would be transferred to Dyg Hjh's account, soon after the requested amount was deposited.

However, to date, the gullible local couple had only lost the B$1,562 that they sent to the Philippines and had not received any 'prize money' in return.

Today, although the Police are probing the incident no arrests have been made nor is their any guarantee that the would ever get back the money they lost. -- Courtesy of Radio Television Brunei

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