Bankers caution public anew on online scams

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu Bankers Club has warned the public to be wary against bogus online investment schemes.

CBC president Mario Fritz Palileo particularly cited cryptocurrency investments.

While he stressed that cryptocurrency is a legitimate investment, the public should be cautious as to the entities they transact with.

"With regards to cryptocurrency, I believe that this is a very secured program," the bank official told The FREEMAN.

"However the problem lies on who or where to contact if there is a problem," Palileo said, urging the public to understand cryptocurrency investing completely before deciding to invest their hard-earned money.

Virtual currencies or cryptocurrencies are not issued or guaranteed by central banks or government authorities.

Virtual currency is a type of digital currency created by a community of online users, stored in electronic wallets and generally transacted online.

Palileo emphasized that cyptocurrencies are not for amateur investors.

"If they invest, the money invested should be prepared to lose," he said.

According to Palileo, there are many firms now offering this kind of investment "and they are very deceiving."

So he advised the public to be careful and only transact with legitimate ones.

"For the public, it is always safe to invest in something they know about," he said.

Earlier, the Securities and Exchange Commission warned the public against unregistered online investment entities that are enticing the public to invest their money in high-earning investment products.

According to SEC, these unregistered entities include NewG,  Smart Capital, Gener8X, Paid2Prosper, CMT (Coins and Mining Trading), PSO (PSOPOWER Apps),  TradeConnect, IronTrading (Team Bangon), ExpertTrading, OneCash, Lucky Coins, Miner’s Investment Group, Digital Coin Trading, and All Pal for All Seasons.

These unregistered entities, SEC said, usually offer their investment contracts in their corresponding Facebook pages or secret FaceBook groups and chatroom; offer unrealistic return on investments ranging from 10% to 200% per month; or require their interested investors to pay their initial investments by depositing their money to a specific bank account, Coins.Ph account, GCash, through a money remittance company and through face-to-face payments with one of the entity’s agents.

SEC also said the scheme usually involves the investor sending through private message a copy of the proof of deposit to the offeror who shall send his confirmation after validation; delivering payouts through the above-mentioned methods; and claiming that they invest their funds in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to justify their earning capacity.

"The public is hereby warned that such investment schemes, whether with the use of money or cryptocurrencies, are considered as securities subject to the regulatory authority of this Commission," the corporate regulator further warned.

The recruitment of investor members under the guise of sponsoring a person into the system is likewise considered a form of investment solicitation or a sale of securities. The offering or sale of securities to the public without a permit or license from the Commission is a violation of Section 8.1 of the Securities Regulation Code (SRC).

SEC said the mentioned online entities are not registered with the agency as corporation or partnership and are not authorized to solicit investments from the public.

Those who act as salesmen, brokers, dealers or agents of these unregistered investment entities in selling or convincing people to invest in the these schemes being offered by them including solicitations or recruitment through the internet may likewise be prosecuted and held criminally liable under Section 28 of the Securities Regulation Code and penalized with maximum fine of P5 million or imprisonment of 21 years or both pursuant to Section 73 of the SRC. (FREEMAN)