SCAM ALERT! Selling Stuff Online? Beware of a Scammer from Africa!!! Or Who Knows Where?

Beware of this number! +233 26 738 4580 and +233 54 357 9794

UPDATE: NOV. 24, 2018

I recently posted online an iPhone 7Plus for sale through a website called OLX. This person pretended to be an interested buyer of the said item. He sent me a message asking for my Whatsapp contact details so we can exchange messages in a more convenient way than the OLX messaging feature. At first I told him, I only have a Viber account. He insisted to communicate thru Whatsapp since he was interested in buying the iPhone 7Plus I posted. I thought he was a legit buyer.

Ok, I gave my Whatsapp number and then he sent me a message. I was reluctant from the beginning. Here are the screenshots of our conversation.

Then I got 2 emails with these content:

What are the points I noticed for possible fraud transaction?

1. What??? Pay the postage cost to the courier agent? Then I will send the iPhone to Ghana without gettung any payment. In order to get paid, I should email the scanned receipt for the activation of money then they would transfer the money within 10 minutes to my bank??? So, they want me to send the iPhone to Ghana then pay for the shipping fee?? Wow!

2. Why was it using the “outlook” email domain if the sender was PayPal? They obviously used PayPal as their means to make the seller believe that they actually transferred payment which they claimed “on hold”.

3. There was pressure in sending them the package because the money sent cannot be sent back to Mustapha since the payment has been screened.

4. The currency of the claimed money transferred/processed was not in Philippine Peso PhP instead it says INR or Indian Rupee. It is quite understood that I am in the Philippines and he is sending a payment with the amount agreed on Ph Pesos. I did not mention any other currency bank account in our convo.

5. There was a threat as indicated in red letters. That if the transaction is not done in 24 hours, you will be held responsible for violating their online monitoring rules and regulations. What???

6. There are grammatically wrong sentences, which I believe Paypal will not commit this simple “language crime”.

7. It mentioned more than twice about security/secured, legitimacy, confirmation, and safe. These words can make someone feel comfortable in dealing transactions.

What else did you notice?

As I was feeling really pissed off and felt cheated, I started to research about any scam or related incidents. I found nothing. I looked into PNP Anti-Cyber Crime in the Philippines. I searched for any contact details and sent an email to them to report the incident, seek help for possible further cyber crime, and offered help if they have any campaign. But, until now I do not receive any response or even an acknowledgment from them. Oh well!

I found these in their website as somehow related or close to what supposed to be a possible cyber crime.

My last response was:

Beware of this number or any number starting with the country code +233 and the names below. I am sure these are not their real names, but just in case you encounter these along the way, you know what to do. Number +233267384580 and Names Mustapha Azeez and Mustapha Tobi. Beware!!!

End of conversation. Nice try! I still have the iPhone with me. I hope I promoted awareness and served as a warning to everyone who may encounter related incident concerning cyber crime. Let us all be vigilant. God bless us all!

At one point, I regret that I should have pretended I am following his fraudulent activity. And see what else he got to make his victims believe. But as a mammal, my instincts brought me to defend myself from possible harm.

*The number posted is the actual phone number used to contact me to perform the possible cyber crime.

*The images above are my property.

Please like my Facebook page if you find this post helpful. Leave your comments and tell me your experience. Ciao!

UPDATE: FEB. 16, 2018

Ooops he did it again!!! A random person sent me a message at Porsche’s Diary Facebook  page. He told me he was a victim of a scam with about the same scenario. I felt bad eventually. It was late for them to check online about the number used on Whatsapp. They were shocked when they found out that there was a SCAM ALERT of the same exact situation. This time the scammer was successful. Or shall we consider it a CYBER CRIME? Please enlighten me. Below are the items involved.

 

Same thing happened, the scammer sent a message through Whatsapp then promised a payment shall be sent to the victim’s account using Paypal after the package is sent and received by the scammer. This time, the scammer received the item; a PS3 set with CDs and accessories worth PhP20,000 but was being sold online for PhP8,000 only. The address was not in Ghana anymore. Guess where? It was in La Union! The package was sent through LBC. The sender/victim is from Cebu City. The victim tried to coordinate with LBC Mabolo to hold the item for delivery. But after a few minutes, the sender/victim got a message that the item was delivered to the scammer with the said correct tracking number stated. The victim was so devastated.

 

I sent the victim possible contact persons and numbers/email to be contacted to seek help and assistance regarding the matter. I hope this is in process for any action. I will update if any.

I have questions again in mind:

1. So these names exist? Robert Frank? Ashley Aron Frank? Mustapha Azeez? Mustapha Tobi? How did this Ashley receive the package? Did he present a valid ID for the item to be handed over to him? Was it picked up with what identification card presented?
2. LBC, how strict are you with your own policy ?
3. This person is in the Philippines? Committing Cyber Crime without hesitation?
4. Who should handle this case?
5. When will my email to PNP Cyber Crime group be answered?
6. Who are these people on the scammer’s Whatsapp profile?
7. Who is the next victim?

Be vigilant! Let us spread awareness! Thanks to the person who shared his story to me. Also for allowing me to share his side of this story. He chose to be anonymous. I hope someone takes action on this.

Beware of this number! +233 26 738 4580

He already used different pictures on his Whatsapp account. Different from the one he used when he tried to deceive me. Are they real?

 

Pokemon Go! 720 Characters Catch Them All!

Pokemon Go! fever has finally arrived in the Philippines this August 6, 2016. Niantic Labs as the developer/maker with The Pokemon Company. It was released earlier in other countries. It is an augmented reality game, meaning backgrounds in real life captured by your smart phone camera are seen with your Pokemon characters. It is real life and digital technology together. Most of the Filipino smart phone users are busy to download and play Pokemon. Even big networks such as Globe and Smart are generous to give way to Pokemon Trainers FREE unlimited game on data for a month. I am not really a fan. But I feel the need to know so I am up to date. And it can kill time while waiting on queue. I only caught few Pokemon. Pikachu is not yet on my Pokedex (gallery type). I wonder how many of them and how they look. It says there are Generation 1 – Generation 6 Pokemon. I did not know until I read it that there are a lot of details in each Pokemon such as Stats, Type, Evolution etc. So many of them huh? Just for the sake of the not so fan but quite interested to know, here they are:

 

There are lots of Pokemon Collectibles available online. You might want to catch them all!

How many have you caught? Share with us your Pokemon stories! Take extra care as you play the Pokemon Go!

Credit: Pokemon website

 

Is it Globe, Sun or Smart? (With a short history of my mobile phones since 1997)

Now a days, there are tons of mobile numbers which are active and very confusing to identify which mobile network they belong. Before I show you the list, I cannot forget my very own evolution of cellphone/mobile ownership. I got my first owned (Smart network) postpaid cellphone with the unit JRC (forgot the model number). It looks like a big brick and slightly a thick remote control. It is wireless, no sim card yet that time, 2 liner lcd (?) with green back light, and with antenna I guess. And it can make you fall asleep if I hit you with it. Just kidding.  I tried to Google the exact image but here is the closest one.

It resembles my first mobile phone

After that,  here comes the GSM saga. Nokia was a prominent brand for mobile phones that time. I think it was 1997 when text messaging was introduced in the Philippines. But I got my first GSM handset in 1998. It was a Nokia 5110! The original cover was dark blue. Then I bought different plain front covers. You can pair it with your clothes, very stylish yeah? After a while, printed covers emerged from everywhere. Pirated covers were everywhere at a cheaper price. The battery pack also serves as the back cover.

Nokia 5110 with a Blue cover (original color)

Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan City is the capital of cellphone units and other shopping stuff. Hundreds of stalls are there to offer handsets of different models and prices, name your budget. During that time, brands like Nokia, Bosch, Alcatel, Ericsson (which later merged with Sony, making it Sony Ericsson), Samsung, and others (anything that I missed?) were all over the place. Upgrades, open line (open network locked phones, open phones from the U.S., open SIM blocked phones commonly stolen handsets so it is possible to be used again), downloads (songs, picture messages, games, wallpapers and others) were some of the services they offered. By then, multi-colored back lights can make your mobile phone looks more attractive. My Nokia 5110 has green and blue lights with acetate (a printed design on the background LCD screen). It is funny to think of those now. Oh my, the memories are still here…

Original Nokia 5110 original plain covers

Nokia 5110 stylish design covers

When you have it, it felt like you are from the upper class. (Teenage years, come on). It was PhP 10,000 then. I bought my first SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card for PhP 1,200. Yes, I am serious. Unlike now, it is only PhP 20 or up. I will not forget my SIM card number, (Globe network) 09179246355. Text messaging was still free of charge, you just had to request the mobile network to activate the text messaging feature. Then gradually it changed to 3 months of one-time payment to send and receive text messages, down to 2 months, 1 month and it turned out to be PhP 1.00 per 160 characters (maximum) of texts until the present time. I can’t believe it, from FREE feature to a thousands of expense. Business wise, “Strike while it’s hot”, they say.

SIM card sizes

Text message

The evolution of handset features evolved quickly. It was like one feature added to every phone model; then the hasty, impulsive buyers replace their phone units after every release of new model units.

Time came, the smaller the mobile phone, the more hip you are. Some phones was featured on Hollywood movies such as Mission Impossible, Matrix and others. First small phone featured if I am not mistaken was Nokia 8210 then Nokia 8250 (with original blue back light), Nokia 8850 (business class handset) and so forth.

Nokia 8210

Nokia 8250

Nokia 8850

Then camera phones arrived. I remember Nokia launched the model unit Nokia 7650. It is a bulgy phone which you can push upward to reveal the keypads. Shock proof phones came out as well.

Nokia 5210 (shock proof)

Nokia 7650 (first camera phone of Nokia)

The rest is history when Smart phones were discovered. It invaded the market with touch screen phones, 18 mega pixels of camera, front and back cameras, waterproof phones, sync, air gesture, wi-fi enabled phones, downloadable applications, S beam, share play, share screen, and many more. Apple iPhone has been the great rival of Samsung galaxy series phones.  Some users are loyal to each phone company. An ad circulates that iPhone handsets have short battery life than Samsung.  But iPhone they say is more secured against viruses than Samsung. Your choice depends on your needs. So choose the best one. Happy texting  and happy calling. Enjoy! As I write now, this is my phone. Enjoying every feature of it. You? What is your first mobile phone?

Samsung Note 3 – captured on the first day

 Which network does your friend’s number belongs? Globe/TM, Smart/TnT or Sun?

GLOBE/TM	SMART/TnT	SUN
817	813	922
905	907	923
906	908	925
915	909	932
916	910	933
917	912	934
926	918	942
927	919	943
935	920	xxxx
936	921	xxxx
937	928	xxxx
994	929	xxxx
996	930	xxxx
997	938	xxxx
xxx	939	xxxx
xxx	946	xxxx
xxx	947	xxxx
xxx	948	xxxx
xxx	949	xxxx
xxx	989	xxxx
xxx	998	xxxx
xxx	999	xxxx

Source: Customer care of each network *I will update if needed.