I Won PhP 850,000 in Pabahay ni “Binay” and You Too Can

Yes, you too can…

…get scammed if you are not very careful.

Let me explain.

I was supposed to be feeling lucky this morning.

The first text message I got was from a friend saying, “Thank You.”

What a lovely day! This is the kind of SMS message I’d like to read first thing in the morning, every morning. I could not be more happy than that.

A single round at the toilet and a quick tooth brush later, then… beep, beep — the Android kind of beep.

Oh, I have a new message.

The second message was an appeal to the greediness in me. The text message goes this way

D/MILLIONAIRE’S CLUB OFFICE OF THE PHILS., nforming u dat ur cel# Won!, in PABAHAY NI “BINAY” 2011!, Worth, Php850,000, DTI-NCR permit# 1603s11, Pls.call me now!!..I’m Atty. VLD.

Note: I intentionally put only the initials of the lawyer’s name (that’s VLD) used by the sender to protect his identity and reputation. I have not heard of the lawyer’s name before I personally believe that the scam artist could be using someone else’s name for obvious reasons.

The message was sent using this number: +639067546784.

I have no reason to apologize exposing that number publicly on this high-traffic website. Whoever you are, shame on you!

Obviously this is scam attempt that has gone high tech, using cellular phones. By the time this article is posted on the website, it should have circulated a thousand times already waiting for its naïve victim who is apt to believe in getting something out of nothing.

Of course, nothing is free nowadays. Or, it’s best to carry that kind of mindset wherever you go.

These scammers might be hoping that out of the thousand messages they send, a few would actually fall prey and send them whatever they are asking, which could be

• an initial deposit sent through Western Union or whatever.
• a cell phone load, which is kind of funny for a member of the so called Millionaire’s Club
• or your credit card information

If you care about your friend or family, please share this article to them so that at least they get warned.

Did I Get Scammed?

Of course not… I mean, not yet.

But, who knows? I could get victimized one of these days. I hope not.

This morning, I won over the scammer. I’m still feeling lucky I have my common sense intact.

So how did I know it was a scam?

Here are some points or defects that I detected from that message.

1. I Can’ t Win In A Raffle — Why on earth would I win in a raffle I did not even join?
2. D/MILLIONAIRE’S CLUB OFFICE OF THE PHIL — The Philippine Government is not stupid enough to use that kind of name in any of its agencies.
3. Erroneous Punctuation Marks — The message sender apparently doesn’t know how to use proper punctuation marks and therefore the whole message is Non-Official.
4. The cell number — This is just like any ordinary cell phone number. Big companies and government agencies are using specially reserved numbers for official notifications and correspondence.
5. “Please call me now!” — What? I call you? Wow, here’s a first-class jerk… a member of the Millionaire’s Club, but… he can’t even afford to give me a quick phone call to inform me that I won in a raffle, which I did not even join.

It’s possible that you, or someone you know, could be getting this kind of SMS message.

Again, please share this page to someone you care. You don’t get to see this kind of article in any place.

Another Note: This is a scam alert in general. But since it uses the name “Pabahay Ni Binay”, it gets mentioned here in this website, which is primarily focused on Pag-IBIG Financing. This is in line with our intention of helping our site visitors get educated about the Pag-IBIG Fund and its programs and services.

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This article is written by Carlos Velasco.