ZAMBOANGA CITY, 23 May 2006 — A cell phone text message of a supposed cash loan from the Standard and Chartered Bank without any collateral has reached the southern Philippines and those who have received the offer smell fraud.
The text message from cell phone number +63918 4720234 reads: Gud am! dis is jhenee carino, of standard and chartered, i jaz lyk 2 offer u CASH LOAN, u may kol me at my direct line 687 4911 or thru dis cel# or at my globe# 09158013491, kindly reply 2 acknowledge, tnx and have a nice day.”
But the Standard and Chartered Bank in Makati City said it has no records of any employees by the name of Jhenee Cariño.
“Cariño” said they are offering cash loans without any collateral, but clients have to pay P1,500 as processing fee for the application and a set of post-dated checks once approved by the bank. “All you have to do is to submit us your income tax statement and business permits, if you are a trader, and pay the necessary fee of P1,500 for the processing of the loan and post-dated checks, if the loan is approved. The good thing here is that you don’t have to go to Manila, if you live in the southern Philippines or elsewhere to get your loan, we will mail a manager’s check to you,” she said.
The woman did not say how they were able to get the cell phone numbers of those they offered the loans. “Oh, we have a listing of names and phone numbers that we can send text messages,” the said. It was unknown how many people were offered the same loan. She said her office is located in Ortigas Avenue in Pasig City, but would not say exactly where.
While similar scams are very easy to detect, many people in the Philippines have been victimized by syndicates through cell phone text messages on everything from supposed lottery winnings to raffle draws from unknown companies.
