A man was duped into spending more than Php18,000 on a mobile gaming scam.
As he first shared to GMA News, Rolando (not his real name) received an unsolicited text message from an unknown source that claimed to offer a job with a salary ranging from Php3,000 to Php8,000 daily.
Intrigued by the prospect of a huge income, Rolando responded to the offer and was instructed to create an account on an online game and transfer Php200. When he saw Php124 returned to his bank account on top of his initial transfer, he felt the urge to continue adding more funds. It only took less than a day for Rolando to unwittingly spend and lose Php18,000 in the game.
What happened to Rolando is a variation of the “budol-budol” scam. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the scam involves gaining the victim’s trust (in Rolando’s case, by giving a huge return in his initial investment). The scammer will then ask the victim, now hypnotized by the initial deal, to hand over more money and cut off communications with the victim afterward.