Beware the Filipina Scammer!

Some unscrupulous ladies (and guys working in boiler-room setups) will attempt to perpetrate the following scams on you, especially so if you are corresponding via Online Dating or a LDR (Long Distance Relationship):

After you help her, she will just take your money and laugh all the way to the bank.

• I am in a hospital and cannot get out. Please send P 8000 ( always a neat number with at least two-three zeros in the end. Or, I need to go to the dentist.
• I would really like to start a business so I do not have to depend on you. I need P 20,000. Now it is four zeros.
• I need to pay tuition/register for school, I need uniform, pay for exams. etc.
• I need to move from this place and rent a room on my own. I need two months’ rent and two months’ deposit. Then, you will be paying the rent.

Passive aggressive is also common.

• I am in debt, I owe P10,000. I don’t know what to do.
• Oh, I am so sad. Someone stole my phone/laptop/tablet. I want to message you honey and I want to do my schoolwork, but I can’t.
• I am so sad, I have no money to pay rent. I will end up on the street.
• I will have to quit school next year because I have no money to pay tuition. What can I do? Without education, I have no future.
• I am so sad, I want to find a job, but I have no money to pay for clearances.
• I am so sad, the money you sent to me was stolen. I was robbed at gunpoint.
• My phone is not working. Ok, let’s go to the repair shop. Oh, it’s working now!

Repurposing (sometimes a scam, but often, just being unethical)

• You send money for one activity, and then , it either gets cancelled or she changes her mind and spends it on something else.
• I need money for visa. P 15000 (again, a smooth, even number).
• But she will spend it on paying her aunt’s gambling debt.
• Or she will say that the job is no longer available. But what happened to the money? Oh, I spent it on my brother’s tuition and uniforms. Say whaaaaat?

Some will stoop so low as to fake their own parent’s death and ask you to pay for the funeral. These people have no conscience and no fear of karma or bad luck. They are worse than sharks or crocodiles. At least, those do bad things because they are hungry and cannot help it.

Some other things to watch out for:

Girls that come to the date with a transvestite chaperon. That’s a scam team right there!

Girls that do not talk. They just smile and appear thoughtful and are patiently waiting for the moment to free you from your cash.

Very often the girls do not act alone. There are “advisers” or ” team-mates” in the background, who are hatching the plan to take advantage of you and tell the girl what to say or do. Sometimes, it’s not even her sending you the messages, but her “adviser”.

I wonder if they attend a scam school?…

If you can think of more scams that you know about, please help me expand this list. Having been here 10+ years, it’s crazy how many girls will ask you for money – it happens all the time here. Don’t be surprised to receive random messages asking for money on a frequent basis!

In Mindanao they have so many girls scamming guys from overseas that many MoneyGram/Western Union outlets refuse to allow girls to pickup money unless they can prove they know the ‘sender’ in real life – they have to show selfies with the guy – or they wouldn’t let them collect the money.

For the Philippines newbies: You need to have a zero-tolerance policy.

Do NOT send a single dollar/peso to a girl/guy you’ve never met. Ever!

Stay Positive and Get Local!

My recommendation and it’s for the guys out there wanting to settle down or re-settle down with someone after a divorce or death of a spouse….

Get your ducks in a row to come to the Philippines and spend an extended period of time getting a feel for the place. Something on the order of around six months even if you have to do it incrementally over multiple trips. A year is even better. I did ten years. Maintain the ability to jump back and forth between the Philippines and your home country. Use the internet as a maintenance mechanism and not a search mechanism for a matchup. Do your searching along the natural path with boots on the ground. I can just about guarantee that the natural path will bring your heart’s desire and it is most likely to happen when you least expect it.

The Filipina predators (on the hunt) have a sort of built in radar, they can sense the gullible guy vulnerable to wanting to be worshipped by a woman. The predators take advantage of any vulnerabilities.

A guy just cruising around enjoying the whole experience is going to find himself in different situations where the nice girls (not necessarily on the hunt) can be seen living their lives. There are all manner of innoccent occurences that can begin the process of meeting someone such as where to find clothes that fit, directions to a place, watching sports, asking where and when to attend English speaking church services, looking for a decent place to rent for a while, does anybody sell hamburgers….and on and on and on.

The only way to get over the fear of the unknown is to just dive in. If you don’t think you can do it on your own in the beginning then you shouldn’t try until you are ready. If you skip the boots on the ground groundwork the downside results can really suck and there are a lot of guys that can confirm that.