PB member's name used in identity theft scam

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Provincial Board Member Julian Daan yesterday told the media someone assumed his identity to try and swindle cellular phone load.

Daan said a man pretending to be him called the Minglanilla Police Station and requested them to inspect one of the resorts in Minglanilla as he has three foreign visitors who will be staying there.

Believing it was Daan, PO1 Artellano Cabaluna went to the place and followed the order.

Yolanda Daan, the wife of the PB member, told the media Cabaluna was instructed by the caller to borrow P3,000 from the receptionist and that he will reimburse it upon his arrival. After he got the money Cabaluna was instructed to buy six cellular cards each with P500 worth of load.

However, when the caller instructed the police to scratch for the PIN numbers of the cards and send them to him, the manager of the resort, Rudy Florita, intervened and asked to talk to the caller.

Florita suspected it was not the PB member he was speaking to as the man spoke fluently in Tagalog and English.

Florita then asked for the whereabouts of the caller saying they will personally deliver the cards to him.

However, the caller asked Florita to return the phone to Cabaluna and told the policeman that they have decided to change venue.

The caller’s real identity remains unknown. “You can fool me this time but you cannot fool me all the time,” Daan said.

He added the incident should serve as a warning to the public not to be easily persuaded and to verify the caller first.

Daan also said last year third district PB member Alex Binghay’s name was used in a similar modus operandi.  (FREEMAN)