How Scammers Pull Down their Companies

There’s a trend going on around Facebook about making it big with your own business through Royale Business Club International Inc. Backgrounder; Royale Business Club, more commonly known as just Royale, is a international business that operates through direct selling of various beauty items through independent networks. Yes, it may look like just networking, but the capital that is invested in the business model has a product return that you can either use or sell.

So what’s the problem?

Well, first let’s look at GMA Network’s recent report regarding an investment scam that laundered millions off of investors and business networks. One Peter James Abarico offered direct selling investment to a PNP officer as well as former Police General and NBI Director Magtanggol Gatdula. Although he is working under Royale as a representative, the actions that Abarico took are that of only for his own self-interest.

Now let’s take this one website on the other hand: royalewellnessandbeauty.com is selling the same products that Royale is selling because they are direct sellers of said incorporation however, and it is blatantly disclaimed in the About Us section of their site, that they are independently operating as a separate entity.

What does this mean?

The problem is that, much to like to the usual PhilippinePrudential scammers that most threads will discuss, the scamming is happening outside of the company’s ability to take responsibility for. There will be hard selling third party representatives that promise benefits that is out of the scope of the company’s product so much so that when a client or investor takes claim, it’s the company and not the third party representative that takes the blame.

This is in no way a measure to advertise said companies; this is a safety measure and a warning—always know what you’re getting into directly from the source so that you can always take the necessary claims. As with the people who lost millions on the investment scams, you too might fall prey to these kinds of fraudulent activity.

Tandaan, talo ng maagap ang masikap kaya wag maging pabaya at padalos-dalos sa mga desisyon.

Philippine Prudential Scammers (aren’t who you think)

So I’m on my way home to Marikina when, after getting out of Rustan’s, Gateway and going down the escalator that goes to the FX queue at Aurora Boulevard, a group of corporately dressed individuals (sort of) ganged me up. The initial question they had was “Sir, may credit card ka na ba?” and time and again, they would ask me every time I passed that spot; on this day, however, someone came up to me and said “Sir, may tatanong lang ako, di kita bebentahan” and then asked me about my shirt that had [Malolos Bayan] written all over it. I just answered a couple of questions (some of them got personal), then, at the moment that they asked if I’d be interested in free stuff, I told them that I had to go.

Upon searching mall scams over the internet (because them people piqued my interest), I came across a lot of results regarding budol-budol (a form of modus that uses hypnosis), salisi (attention diverting scam, almost illusory), and healthcare and insurance scams. In the Philippines, scams aren’t such a new thing. A scam story is just like another break up story but instead of losing your jowa, you lose money. Sometimes, though, we fail to see through the scam and who’re actually behind it.

In my search, I found out that the leading name when it came to insurance scams was Philippine Prudential Life Insurance Company (PPLIC). I have a friend who works at Philippine Prudential for an entry level post. He says that all Philippine Prudential direct product sales are based on the office. Conclusion? These mall rats might not be direct employees of PPLIC.

PPLIC does NOT give out giveaways to their clients. They would sometimes give contribution rebates, family and group discounts, and extra benefits for premium paying clients but never would they give umbrellas, cars, trip-for-two vacations, or college scholarships unlike what they promise you at malls. Malamang niyan, ang mga ahente sa malls ay 3^rd party sales na gumigimik gamit ang freebies para maka benta. I can’t blame ‘em though, sales is hard. Although I can’t say that I should blame PPLIC, too.

Abangan!! Next time, I am out to actually engage these “agents” to see how far they’d go to sell me something. Kayo ba, sa tingin niyo, who can we trust when it comes to Insurance?

Popular Scams in the Philippines

When you say scam, it immediately flags money-taking activities, especially in the Philippines and one of the most victimized institutions of said word is insurance. Because of the stigma of insurance scams in the Philippines, some people are reluctant to avail of insurances albeit they be legitimate and the same stigma goes for medical benefits and financial investing. The three of these are actually the least of your worries when it comes to scams. What you should be looking for though are things like:

Online Scams

The nature of the business itself is prone to abuse of anonymity. The most basic of these scams are those who ask for your credit card information or access to your personal emails and such. These are easy to spot as some of them are either pop-ups or poorly constructed unprofessional looking pages—think about all the times that an add or a pop-up flashes in front of you telling you that you won something.

Other scams may happen when you are dating someone on the internet. Most prone to these are people who appear far from their online-other. Some will use the internet based relationship to ask for care and intimacy through asking for money or financial support but always find a reason to not meet up.

Then there are those who scam through either selling of buying. Sell scammers look almost harmless: they sell items online (OLX, AyosDito, Ebay) for second hand prices, you pay for them, the item gets shipped to you, then, voila! It isn’t what was on the internet. Buy scammers will pretend to buy your stuff online and not pay for them. To ensure that proper payments are made in favor of both buyer and seller, do half deposits to bank account or Western Union instead of through GCash. Better yet, meet up somewhere for the transaction, preferably at a mall where a lot of people (witnesses) can see you two.

Cellphone Scams

These are really, really easy to spot but some people still fall victim to them. One modus of cellphone scammers is to pretend to text as a Filipino OFW who wants to send money or a relative who is in trouble. They converse a little bit and then ask that you send them money either so that they can go back home, for legal transaction purposes, or to get them off the hook.

Others will make calls. This callers target house keep most of the time, claiming to be a friend of their master of the home or the master of the home themselves in need of help because they got into an accident. They ask the house help to bring the money hidden somewhere in the house to a certain location so that it can be used to pay for hospitalization.

Employment Scams

This scam seems to be the one that rakes in the biggest bucks. It could come in many form across any type of institutions but this scam’s definitive characteristic is that, at some given moment, a certain “fee” will be asked from the applicant for whatever intent and purpose it may serve.

There was this one syndicated group in Malolos, Bulacan where they even had an office. They fronted that they did office and secretarial works, mostly paper work, and that should an applicant pass the initial screening, she would surely land a secretarial job in a Manila-based company. They don’t actually fail applicant although, for those who passed, a fee of 300php will be required for the processing of papers. Yes, individually, 300php might not be big but if they’re receiving some 100 applicants per day, that 300 grand a day that goes to thieving hands!

Others will promise showbiz stardom. They will claim to be a talent scout of a popular station’s (ABS-CBN, GMA) and say that the person has what it takes to become an actor or actress. Others go and talk to parents saying that their kid can be part of a show and a commercial. Then, they will show papers and fine print saying that fees have to be paid for workshops and such.

The majority of people who get employ-scammed big time are those who aspire to work abroad. Same thing; scammers pretend to be connected to foreign companies, talk you through the job, then ask a certain amount for clearance and what have you. If you are aspiring to work abroad, make sure that, during application, check with DTI if the company that will send you off abroad is registered and legitimate.

Applying for and Realizing your Health Insurance

 It’s so common these days to call scam on insurance policies especially on health insurance. But what does comprise application and benefits for their coverage?

Enrollment

Well first, it’s important to note that, upon application, the applicant will be assessed on their eligibility for the insurance. For good measure, insurance companies will have to consider your state of health including history of medical conditions stemming from your parents and/or grandparents. Of course, it’s considerably ill advisable to allow a person on his deathbed to avail of the same insurance benefits paid for in long term by someone else who has applied a couple of years back with under top physical condition. This serves as fair terms for previous clients as well. Biruin mo, antagal mo nang nagbabayad ng insurance tapos may ibang umani ng benepisyo na kailan lang nag-member kasi pinayagan siya sa kabila nang nagbabadya niyang tuberculosis? It’s not that the insurance company is being heartless—it’s for the mutual protection interest of both the insurer and the insured.

Of course, as per physical health, insurances will always be personalized and the applicant must be legally capable so as to enter into an agreement with the insuring company, ie you have to be of legal age and are not mentally handicapable.

Facts of the Files

Say you have succeeded in your application—make sure that you have all the papers and documents (including premium payment receipts) kept safe and ready for presentation. Some people think that and insurance ID would suffice to be able to receive insurance claims. Documentation is important because, with it, you can track down your payments as well as you have, in hand, all the necessary documents to prove your eligibility to receive the benefits. Mas madali ka makakapag claim at mas madali rin nila maiaayos ang kailangan mo. In other countries, they have insurance advisors but here, most people would want to go it alone with the paper work thus making proper documentation all the more important.

For your benefit, here are some terms you have to look out for in a policy:

Out-of-pocket

It’s the coverage that you have personally paid for. If you’ve completely paid for your deductibles, copays, and consinsurances, you have fulfilled your out-of-pocket maximum but this does not count in the same scope as your premiums which means that if you want coverage for a given month, you still will need to pay for premium on said month.

Pre-existing Conditions

Remember when we said that you need to first be assessed medically sometimes before you are enrolled for an insurance? Some conditions will be filed under here and those conditions might or might NOT be included in your coverage. Kung may TB ka at pinayagan kang mag enroll para sa insurance, tingnan mo muna kung covered ang TB mo. If you get hospitalized for a pre-existing condition that is stated to be not covered, you will not be able to claim benefit for it as well as for…

Exclusions

This part of the policy must be well defined when you check yours. These are the incidents that the company will not cover at all so look for the “Exclusions” clause and make sure know them well.

Grace Period

This is for the benefit of the client. Should you be unable to pay on the deadline, the company will provide you with a certain grace period before they cancel the coverage for the month or year.

There are more terms to look out for but these are some of the most important ones. Make sure to clarify them with you policy provided as well as ask them for clarifications regarding your policy fine print.

LIFE INSURANCE, AN ASSURANCE.

In life, no matter how organized and futuristic a person is, unexpected events still come into existence. It can either be because one’s preparations weren’t enough or there are just some things that come out of control of anyone. This matter is taken on a more serious note when we talk about life and death situations. Life as a precious matter is valued by every one of all ages and sexes. Because of this, insurance policies were created.

Paragraph 1, section 2 of the Presidential Decree No. 612 or also known as the Insurance Act of the Philippines (Act No. 2427) states that a "contract of insurance" is an agreement whereby one undertakes for a consideration to indemnify another against loss, damage or liability arising from an unknown or contingent event. Insurance policies come in all forms and manners to serve every person’s needs and wants. Whether it’d be for life matters, business matters or what have you, insurance companies would provide you with a policy that can perfectly suit your needs in life. Basically, insurances are purchased by different people from all walks of life in cases of unfortunate events. These happenings can come as expected or unexpectedly, anyhow, a backup plan for anyone would be a good choice. This is not only for themselves per se, but also, for their family members and loved ones. Every insurance policy purchaser engages themselves with such kinds of contracts because they want to make sure they will have a saving grace whenever worst case scenarios come into life.

Insurance policy therefore serves as life trust plans. As life is of the essence for everyone, insurance policies, must therefore serve their very purpose. It must, when the necessity calls for it, serve every clients in accordance with what they have availed and paid for.

The boom of the insurance industry in the Philippines has given every Filipino the chance to safeguard their lives and of the people dear to them. The market value of insurance policies in the country continues to rise ever since its birth. Different insurance companies are now present in the market. The problem though that came with it is the birth of black markets as well. There are, as of the present moments, existing insurance companies that pretend to be with the same interests as you have but in reality are only out there to rob you out of your lifetime savings. With the burst of different insurance companies worldwide came as well tons of different insurance agents. Some of them, legit and professional, and some of them, trained to use luring tactics to deceive you to avail of their insurance policies with the intention of just scamming you.

It is therefore difficult nowadays to ascertain whether insurance companies in town are legit or not. If before, every person would willingly want to avail insurance policies for them and their concerns, at the present moments, people would be in certain degrees of apprehension to splurge their hard earn money to such. At one point, no one can blame these people. Insurance policy customers firstly shouldn’t be at disadvantage in any way for they avail of such because they fear the upcoming of disadvantageous events.

Insurance scam in the Philippines is now a large raging issue. Unfortunately, many of our fellowmen has fallen into the trap of those deceitful insurance agents lurking around. Now, as supposed to be insured customers, what are they supposed to do after knowing that they have been scammed?

Firstly, it’s of any insured rights that they cancel such contract and have their money given back to them. Title 4 of Act No. 2427 proves this to be very true. It states among its provisions that every injured insured party in an insurance contract has every right to rescind said agreement.

Secondly, though the rescinding process would take a lot of your time and patience through its complex and long processes, the value of your money shouldn’t be at any way taken for granted. As much as life is of the essence, your hard earned salaries are of the essence as well. Basically, the reason why you try to earn a living is because you value your life, right?


Thirdly, knowing what you’re getting into is a must for everyone. Before signing anything, review every word and clause provided therein in your insurance contracts. Having knowledge of the Insurance Code can serve as a great weapon for your protection. So, the next time, some suspicious insurance agents come after you, you know the law, your rights and how to best ward them off.