My father called me yesterday afternoon asking me if there is a way to know if a company is legit. I told him he can call the Department of Trade and Industries (DTI) to verify if a certain company exists. Unfortunately, my father gets easily fooled by sweet talks1. Someone gave him a call to his work place and offered him a discount card, a dental card, a medical card, and an insurance card for only 2,990Php. The woman who called him, named Jasmin Cruz of FWIC2, said that they are lifetime cards. I mean, who in the world sells lifetime privilege cards for 2,990Php?
What makes the offer really suspicious is that they call via the telephone and tell you that you are part of a “Good Creditors List” and that makes you eligible to avail of such services. The thing is, they already have your credit card number at hand before they called. In order for my father to avail of those cards, he is to provide them the CSC (Card Security Code) that is found at the back of a credit card. I told my dad to call his bank right away and hold the card for any transactions. The credit card company saw a floating 3,000Php on his account. It’s a great thing that the transaction was cancelled and the bank will be sending him a new credit card.
I was really annoyed with my father that he, yet again, got duped by someone offering too-good-to-be-true products or services. My father gave my mother the contact information that Jasmin Cruz gave him. She has been calling the telephone number 750-6383 since last night, but the phone just rings, no one picks up the phone even during office hours. How suspicious is that?!
Lecturing my dad sometimes is like talking to a 5-year-old kid. After the lecture, the kid would still do the same thing that brought him into trouble. I just hope that he learned his lesson. I mean, what if his credit card is used in other transactions?
We should always be careful with accepting the things that are offered to us. At this day and age, a lot of people exist to scam guillible people. A lot of us have a hard time earning to survive living in this 3rd world country, and so do those scammers, so they take what they can get and more.
