Scammers stop at nothing to collect money from unsuspecting victims – and it seems that there’s a group of people selling tickets to military events and charity functions under the name of Col. Simplicio Duque of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Retired Veterans Association (AFPREVA) Inc.
On several unrelated posts on the official Facebook page of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), a number of netizens have been complaining about the scam as far back as in 2011! Amazingly, while the AFP replied to these queries early on, the scam continues to this day – and there were netizens who posted that ‘Col. Duque’ called them for some tickets costing Php3,000 to Php5,000 each this year, 2016!
So, what’s the scam about? Well, the caller will tell you that he is ‘Col. Duque’ and that he is selling tickets to some function (a ballroom for military officers, a charity event to benefit some kids, etc.). It seems that he would not take ‘no’ for an answer and would have someone drop off tickets to your house.
Some would-be victims posted on Facebook about the scam, musing that these scammers must have gotten their information from credit card or postpaid phone companies. There were those who posted that they had actually sent money to the group, especially because the account numbers given are those of an organization, the AFPREVA, which seems legitimate enough.
Yet most people were wary that the thing was scam, especially because the caller demands such a huge amount of money that most people can’t really spare.
Some of the netizens even posted the supposed bank account details of the people collecting money for the tickets…
Even if the Colonel Duque scam began sometime in 2011 (or even before that), it seems that the scammers continue the modus operandi to this day…