Text Message Scam in the Philippines Using “Winnings” to Lure Victims. A few seconds ago as of this writing, I received a text message on my cellphone saying:

“Congratulations!U have won 300k Pesos+Starex Van, ur Sim# as a homepartner last April.30,2011 for info:Call ds#:09427641440Dir: marcel Tan of Phil:Com.Center”

That was the text verbatim with the cases and spaces intact. I don’t judge a book by its cover so I gave the promo the benefit of the doubt and called the number mentioned.

Mr. Tan answered the phone and asked who I was. I said that I received his text about winning money and a vehicle. He asked for my name but since I was skeptical I requested that he introduce himself first. Without any hesitation he said,

“Gago ka!”

… and dropped the call.

From the onset, the text message was screaming scam. Truth be told, the guy who sent the message was a lousy scammer. Here is a list of what gave him away:

• Lousy English. Yes it is a text message but if you want to scam someone, make it look and sound professional to be more convincing.
• No DTI Promo Permit Number. Any promo or winnings in the Philippines should have this and the text message did not have one. A dead giveaway.

This is not a quick lesson on scamming but I simply want to point out how a scam text looks like. If you have received such a text message, there is a government agency to handle that. Simply log your complaint online via the DTI complaint page or call them at (02)7513330.

If you have similar experiences, please share them below via a comment so we can act on this together. You could post the message they sent you and the number they used to send you the message so that vigilant users can see this page and hopefully be protected from these scams.

What you are looking at above is no other than Super Typhoon Parma. The typhoon that many claim would ravage the Philippines the 2nd time from last week, yes after typhoon Ketsana.

After bringing the Philippines to its knees, this storm is one of the last things we had hoped for but is a true reality that is already here in the country. It has already breached the eastern side of the Philippines and is expected to reach the capital by tomorrow October 2 late in the afternoon. Hopefully, those hit hard by Ketsana has enough time to recuperate and brace for another storm coming their (our) way.

Watch the news footage below for more info: