Ginger Diaz
A viral post from an online page called Rapstar shared screenshots of conversations and posts of several people who were scammed by the selling and reselling of face shields.
Those who were scammed were online sellers who invested in getting bulk orders of face shields for an affordable price.
The Rapstar post went viral and was shared 8.3 thousand times online. It gathered various reactions from netizens. It advised the public to be careful about reaching out to these “legit suppliers” of the said product.
In one of the screenshots, it was said that each face shield was being sold by 15 to 20 pesos each. This was very cheap compared to what a PPE face shield kit was being sold by legit suppliers would cost at 100 pesos to 150 pesos.
One of the victims said that she ordered 200,000 pieces of the cheap face shield since it was sold only in bulk orders. They agreed that she would make a down payment first. Since the seller that she talked to had a professional approach, she never thought that it was a scam.
The said supplier promised to meet her in a local mall after a few days with the face shields on hand. But when the buyer went to the said location, the seller didn’t show up.
She tried contacting the seller but her number was blocked as well as her Facebook account. She knew something was wrong, so she showed up in a nearby police station and was surprised that there were also people lining up to file a complaint the same as hers.
https://www.facebook.com/Rapstar0208/posts/153864162986885
The viral post gathered several reactions.
“Wag masilaw sa mababang presyo. Sayang lang pera niyo. Mahuli sana mga scammer na yan nagkalat sa fb”
“Mga hinayupak, scammers”
“Kung meron naman po kayong daan daang libong puhunan para sa faceshield, bakit po hindi nalang kayo dumirecho sa mismong supplier? Kayo na rin magpick up ng mga faceshields ninyo”
“Tama desisyon natin sa buhay. Tuloy sapagtinda ng orig na perfumes.”
It was estimated that over one million pesos were taken from the victims. The authorities are searching for the said scammers and advised the community to be careful about buying cheap priced products online.
