A group of users in social media platform Lyka has fallen victim to a scam and lost up to 5 million in-game ‘gems.’
Member Elmer Cairo told ABS-CBN News that his group—Barangay Exclusive—deposited up to 5 million gems to be used in JabPlay, a Lyka-affiliated online game, after they were promised by another fellow Lyka user of up to 50-percent return in just a week.
But this user made off with the gems and could no longer be reached, according to Cairo.
The gems have real-world value since they can be used for buying goods and services. Each gem is apparently worth Php1, which means Barangay Exclusive and its 1,000 members essentially lost a fortune.
The group has approached the NBI to help track down the scammer. The agency believes the transaction is traceable but requires the participation of Lyka, something the former anticipates to be problematic if the latter invokes certain data privacy rights.
The NBI makes it clear that Lyka is not involved in the scam, although the platform itself has been called out over security concerns.