PH SWIFTIES, NA-SCAM!
Aabot umano sa P15 milyon ang natangay mula sa mahigit 100 Pinoy "Swifties" na nabiktima ng panloloko ng suspek na kunwaring may ibinibentang tickets para sa "The Eras Tour" concert ni Taylor Swift na gagawin sa Singapore.
Ang ilang Swifties na na-scam, tumungo sa Scam Alert ng Unang Hirit! Alamin ang buong detalye sa video na ito.
Hosted by the country’s top anchors and hosts, 'Unang Hirit' is a weekday morning show that provides its viewers with a daily dose of news and practical feature stories.
Watch it from Monday to Friday, 5:30 AM on GMA Network! Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes.
Aabot umano sa P15 milyon ang natangay mula sa mahigit 100 Pinoy "Swifties" na nabiktima ng panloloko ng suspek na kunwaring may ibinibentang tickets para sa "The Eras Tour" concert ni Taylor Swift na gagawin sa Singapore.
Ang ilang Swifties na na-scam, tumungo sa Scam Alert ng Unang Hirit! Alamin ang buong detalye sa video na ito.
Hosted by the country’s top anchors and hosts, 'Unang Hirit' is a weekday morning show that provides its viewers with a daily dose of news and practical feature stories.
Watch it from Monday to Friday, 5:30 AM on GMA Network! Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes.
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FunTranscript
00:00 Concert already? It's still a rock.
00:02 Different modes are being played and will not be missed here in...
00:06 Scam Alert!
00:09 Two of Taylor Swift's fans will be telling their story this morning
00:16 about their near-death experience due to the Aerostore concert ticket scam.
00:20 We are joined by a Swifty that we will hide under the name Marilu.
00:26 This is not a hoax. She was scammed for 250,000 pesos
00:30 because of the concert ticket she bought.
00:33 We are also joined by Anna, not a real name,
00:37 who was also a victim of a scammer and was scammed for 80,000 pesos.
00:41 They are now in cover-up to protect their privacy
00:45 but they are here to share their experience and teach our viewers.
00:51 Good morning. Thank you for joining us.
00:54 Let's find out the story of the victims. Let's start with Anna.
00:58 How long have you been a Swifty?
01:01 Yes, sir. It's been 16 years.
01:03 16 years. Okay.
01:04 I understand that this concert ticket is a gift from your husband.
01:14 Yes.
01:15 Please tell us about that.
01:17 It's a gift from my husband because he knows that I've been a Swifty for a long time.
01:24 We were not able to buy the ticket because it's hard to buy.
01:30 Please tell the viewers, because they might not understand,
01:34 why did the fans and retailers buy the tickets?
01:41 Is it hard? How hard is it to buy a ticket?
01:43 Sir, I've heard that they queue for 6 hours to buy the tickets or even longer.
01:52 Okay.
01:53 Or you have to join a raffle to get an entry to purchase.
01:57 So even if you have a ticket to buy, you can't buy it.
02:00 So you can't buy it just because you have a ticket to buy
02:03 because the queue for Taylor's concerts is really long.
02:09 Marilo, how about you? What were the circumstances of buying the ticket?
02:15 Actually, this is for my son.
02:17 This is a gift.
02:19 Yes, because he's graduating.
02:21 He was able to buy a ticket but it's really far, it's Cat 9.
02:27 But he's already crying because he got a ticket.
02:31 But I still want them to be close to me.
02:35 So I was able to buy it from the scammer.
02:40 How did you get 250,000 pesos?
02:44 Actually, we bought 4 tickets.
02:50 Two BIP-1 tickets were worth 130,000 pesos
02:58 and two BIP-2 tickets were worth 120,000 pesos.
03:01 But the commission of the reseller was included.
03:04 Okay, you have something to add?
03:08 Anyway, how did you get involved in this transaction with this scammer?
03:14 I saw him online on social media.
03:17 Many people were vouching for him.
03:20 I was able to talk to him.
03:24 He made a video call and gave me his ID, his passport.
03:30 I thought that he's not a fraud because he showed his identity.
03:35 He also showed his video call.
03:39 He showed the conversations of other artists.
03:44 There were influencers and a politician with a big name.
03:49 Did you experience the same thing?
03:51 Did you meet him?
03:52 At least, did you make a video call?
03:54 Did he present evidence that he can deliver the tickets that he said?
03:58 I met him face to face.
04:00 I met him twice.
04:02 I was like a sister to him.
04:06 When I found out his name, I did a background investigation.
04:13 I found out that his parents worked in this field.
04:18 So, it adds up.
04:19 Yes.
04:20 So, I trusted him.
04:21 His identity is legit.
04:23 Yes.
04:24 You also mentioned that you had a previous transaction with this person.
04:28 Yes, that's why we trusted him.
04:30 We bought shoes from him.
04:32 We bought three pairs.
04:33 The price was less than Php 60,000.
04:35 He delivered it to us.
04:37 Okay.
04:38 And the item is not fake.
04:40 It's not fake.
04:41 So, it's legit.
04:42 Yes.
04:43 He also mentioned that his father is a high position in a bank.
04:48 I also checked the bank's page.
04:51 I saw the truth.
04:53 At what point did you realize that you were scammed?
05:01 You first.
05:03 At Php 250,000, when did you realize that you were scammed?
05:09 At what point did you get nervous?
05:11 So far, I can still chat with him.
05:14 But there are some PDF files that were released.
05:18 For example, if you were in March 2, February 19,
05:23 and now, it's March 3, the concert.
05:27 There should be 20 PDF files released.
05:29 But he still doesn't have any.
05:31 He still doesn't have any.
05:32 Then, it became 21, but he still doesn't have any.
05:34 But you can still talk to him.
05:36 What did he explain?
05:37 Yes.
05:38 He said that there's something wrong with the ticket master.
05:44 He said that someone reported him that he has a lot of tickets and he's reselling them.
05:51 What happened to you?
05:53 Is that also his story?
05:55 Yes.
05:56 He was reported by the seller of the tickets.
06:00 His bank account was blocked.
06:04 He was sued and he can't refund the money.
06:09 Okay. We also have with us this morning, Jocel D. Guzman of Scamwatch Philippines.
06:16 You mentioned earlier that this case of Eras Tour tickets is a bit different because it's facing the truth.
06:24 Scammers are usually fictitious characters or they don't want to face the truth.
06:30 But this one is facing the truth.
06:31 They also committed their due diligence.
06:35 They investigated.
06:36 How would you describe what happened?
06:39 What are the possible ways to avoid these situations?
06:43 First of all, we can call this online scalping regardless of the intent of the suspected scammer.
06:52 If you say online scamming, you're already going out of the process of buying the ticket.
06:57 Because the ticket is not physical anymore.
06:59 Yes.
07:00 It's more of digital.
07:01 So, in the online ticket platform,
07:05 they protect the buyers.
07:08 So, there's a process.
07:09 You'll sign in to your account.
07:13 Your email address, mobile number, and your full name are all there.
07:17 And then other than that, since Taylor Swift and National Stadium are always sold out in Singapore,
07:24 there's another process.
07:27 There's registration.
07:28 So, even if you register, it's not guaranteed that you'll be able to buy the ticket.
07:34 They'll go out of the process.
07:36 Okay.
07:37 If you go out of the process, since the concert is already near and it's already sold out,
07:42 they'll be able to scam the scalper.
07:45 The problem with scalpers is that since there's a barcode,
07:49 even if they didn't run away and gave out printout tickets,
07:54 the risk is still high that they might not accept the barcode
07:57 because the barcode is not named.
07:59 So, that's the risk.
08:01 So, it means it's not worth it.
08:02 Even if you say it's legit, even assuming that you'll deliver the ticket to them,
08:07 it's not worth it.
08:08 It's not worth it for us.
08:09 Our position is that we'll go to the legit because that's where the consumers will be protected.
08:14 But for example, you signed a contract.
08:19 You're facing it, right?
08:21 Is that still useful?
08:24 Are they still being chased?
08:26 Well, all the evidence is possible because there's a face,
08:29 a name, and someone signed it.
08:32 So, they can submit it to the authorities as additional evidence
08:36 because you can't identify other online scammers.
08:41 You can identify this one, they've seen it a few times,
08:44 there's a video call.
08:45 So, it's right for the NBI or the police to go there and then you have a suspect.
08:51 So, from an online scam, it's already a crime.
08:54 Ana Marilu, what legal action did you take?
08:59 We'll file a complaint with the NBI.
09:02 I'm not sure if I can disclose other information but definitely we'll be doing legal action against him.
09:08 But we don't know if he's still in the Philippines or whereabouts is he now?
09:14 We're asking for a check, sir, where he is.
09:18 So, totally, he's not communicating with you anymore?
09:20 No, he's not.
09:22 That's a big problem. His scam is worth 15 million pesos.
09:26 Josel, do you have a word of warning for those like them,
09:34 the Swifties, or for those future incidents like this, what can you share with them?
09:41 What we always say to the ScamWatch Philippines,
09:44 when it comes to the consumer, when it comes to buying,
09:48 there are a lot of scams.
09:52 All of these scammers are on social media, they are being done by groups.
09:56 You think the groups are legitimate, but when you go there, there are a lot of them.
10:00 So, you're being trusted.
10:02 What we can advise, whether it's online selling, online ticketing,
10:07 let's not go out to the platform, to the official legitimate ticketing platform for concerts,
10:13 online shopping platform if you're shopping.
10:16 Because we can't identify if this is only seen on social media,
10:22 especially since they did all the due diligence, right?
10:25 They checked the ID, and yet, they were still victims.
10:29 So, what we can advise, let's not go out to the platform,
10:34 even if we really want to, there are still a lot of opportunities.
10:38 The risk is a lot, not just one, but a lot.
10:42 Do you have any parting words for our viewers?
10:46 I think we should be more careful in terms of transacting.
10:53 It became a lesson for us.
10:55 More than anything, it became a lesson for us to be careful.
10:59 I hope we can still refund, because what we bought there is hard-earned money.
11:04 Yes, it's not being taken away.
11:06 Should there be an opportunity, will you still grab it?
11:10 Do you still want to watch Taylor Swift?
11:12 Actually, my daughter will still fly with the friends.
11:15 Oh, really?
11:16 Yes, tomorrow early in the morning.
11:18 So, they should just have a chance. Maybe, a team outing.
11:22 Team outing.
11:23 Anyway, I hope Taylor Swift will watch.
11:25 Taylor, if you're watching, you have some very loyal fans here.
11:29 Thank you very much, Josel De Guzman of ScamWatch Philippines.
11:32 Thank you, and Ana Marilu, thank you for sharing your story.
11:35 Thank you.
11:37 Okay. We will have an immediate resolution on this case and to the scammers out there,
11:43 we will not stop you.
11:45 My fellow victims of scammers, please share this with us so we can all be alerted against the scam alert.
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