Team DailyPedia
With poverty and crime on the rise, many different modus operandi have emerged victimizing people where they least expect it.
A netizen by the name of Sabina Rosario shared an unfortunate incident that happened to her cousin at The Spa in Alabang Town Center. Her cousin lost P 1,000 through a palit-pera modus where the man who followed her asked to swap money that was fake without her noticing it.
Sabina’s post stated:
“Going down the stairs, she noticed a man following her. All she could hear was the constant clinking of the man’s keys. Upon reaching The Spa, the man told her, “Miss papalit nga.” Giving her two 500php bills. So my cousin (withouth knowing him) gave him her 1000php bill. The man then again gave her another set of four 500php bills, my cousin willingly gave him 2000php bill. When the man gave her another bill to swap, my cousin got confused and told him, “Ang gulo mo! Akin na nga pera ko.” The man gave her back the money. So she went to her class. The teacher noticed she was confused and distracted. She knew something was wrong coz she felt weak. She then went to Security Bank to have her bills checked. There they confirmed it was FAKE!
A clear case of “budol-budol.” Apparently the man distracted her into swapping fake bills. And used the clinking sound of his keys to perhaps hypnotize her (I know I read this somewhere) so she was able to give in to the man’s request of swapping bills without knowing him. My cousin complained afterwards of pain in her ears. We’re guessing it was probably an effect of the “hypnotism.” We got ahold of the cctv footage from inside The Spa but the man was wearing a cap so we couldnt clearly see his face. It also didn’t raise a red flag among the staff because the man acted like he knew my cousin. We went to ATC’s security office hoping to trace my cousin’s pathway from the entrance of the mall to The Spa. Unfortunately, we were told that their CCTVs ARE NOT WORKING!! *slow clap*
Photo Cerdit: Sabina Rosario’s Facebook Page
Photo Credit: Sabina Rosario’s Facebook Page
Sabina and her cousin, then filed a report at the nearest police station. Unfortunately, they will also be relying on the mall’s CCTV cameras.
On a final note, Sabina reminded the public to be vigilant for such incidents.
