Bloody Gimmicks

A woman, 5’4” in height and 100 pounds, boarded a jeepney. She was followed by two men. One sat on her right and the other sat in front of her. The man on her right said, “Miss, may dura sa inyong kanang balikat (there’s spit on your right shoulder).” So she opened her bag to find tissue paper and left it unzipped. That done, the man in front of her said, “Your left side has spit, too.” She looked to her left and the man on her right slyly stole her cellphone.

Both men got off the jeep and hailed a cab. When the lady noticed that her cellphone was gone, she dug into her bag, got her gun, yelled and ran in front of the cab, pointing her gun at the driver. Yes, she was a cop! The man who was riding in the passenger seat got off and ran. She caught the man who had been on the driver’s side and hit him with the butt of her gun before twisting one arm behind his back and walking him towards the police station, all the while yelling at him. Yes, yelling is a form of defense. Remember that. Dragging him along, she loudly shouted, “Subukan mong kumilos ng masama, pasasabugin ko yang ulo mo!”

Immediately upon arrival at the police station, the policemen interrogated the thief who quickly revealed the whereabouts of his accomplice who had fled the cab. That done, three policemen drove to the thief’s lair with their captured thief showing them the way. They rushed into the house and saw the culprit jumping out of a window. Three law enforcers chased him and the chase ended abruptly at a public FX terminal with a lot of passengers lining up to ride the service vehicles.

A policeman asked if anyone had seen the man running past them. Silence. No answer seemed to be forthcoming. Holding a shotgun, he scrutinized the line of passengers and his gut feel told him: I’ll find that thief panting for breath. Finally, from the corner of his eye, he saw a man gasping for breath. Turning around swiftly he said, “Ikaw yung kumuha ng cellphone!” The man speedily replied, “Ako nga po, nandito po yung cellphone.” Finally, two “Dura-Dura” members were caught.

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The criminal modus operandi of the Dugo-Dugo Gang (translated as “The Bloody Gimmick”) follows a pattern. Here are excerpts from a police report:

“At or about 12:30 p.m. on November 11, 2007, this division received a telephone call from Madam X requesting for police assistance regarding an alleged swindling activity by the Dugo-Dugo Gang which transpired in their residence wherein the suspects identified themselves as Lhen, Gina and Divina.

“Immediately, operatives of this unit led by SPO3 Pablo J Agawin Jr. went to the residence of the victim to validate said report and coordinated with the legal counsel of the victim. Initial investigation disclosed that at around 12:30 p.m. on November 11, 2007 the housemaid of the family received a telephone call from a female person who identified herself as Lhen and requested to speak with the ‘katiwala/mayordoma’ of the house. At that point, the housemaid handed the phone to a co-housemaid. According to the co-housemaid the first caller introduced herself as Gina, a staff member of the Parañaque City District Hospital, and informed her that their Madam was in the hospital due to a vehicular accident. While talking to the co-housemaid, the former handed the phone to another person who introduced herself as the injured party.

“The second time, the caller (pretending to be Madam X) instructed the housemaid to open the drawer inside the master’s bedroom and take all the money and jewelry, Rolex and Cartier watches because she really needed money, being unable to withdraw from the bank because of her condition. Besides, there was no bank open on Sunday. The money would be used to amicably settle with the owner of the vehicle they collided with in the amount of 1.9 million. She also said their cellphones were confiscated by the policemen. Madam X warned the co-housemaid not to tell anyone what happened for the meantime. She would personally inform her family about the accident, she said.

The housemaid added that the caller (pretending to be Madam X) instructed her to wrap the valuables in a piece of newspaper and place them inside a plastic bag and that a certain Atty. Custodio would facilitate the amicable settlement. Thereafter, on the fourth call the housemaid told the caller that she had complied with the instructions, except for the requested millions, after which the caller instructed her to bring P100,000 and the valuables by taxi to Uniwide Coastal Mall, Parañaque City but later switched the venue to Value Point, LRT Station, EDSA, Pasay City and hand the package to a woman who would approach her.

“Suspicious, sensing danger and false pretenses, she left the phone hanging and using her mobile phone tried to contact the secretary, the driver and the security personnel of their ‘Madam’ to confirm her employer’s status. One security guard informed her that their employer was still in Zamboanga City attending a conference. Upon learning that their employer was still in Zamboanga, she cut off her conversation with the caller, realizing she had become a target of the suspected ‘Dugo-Dugo’ gang.”

Others haven’t been so lucky. Some have responded with cash and jewelry… and frayed nerves.

How do these mean, crafty scammers find people’s home telephone numbers? The phone book is their reading material. They also have a broad network within different subdivisions, big and small. In Laguna, in order to get information from prospective victims, they employ varied methods — disguising themselves as deliverymen, bill collectors, census takers and even insurance agents. Once they have gathered all the information needed from their would-be victim’s housekeepers, it is time to operate by dialing the telephone.

Tell your maids to be suspicious and to stop answering questions from unknown callers. Tell them to stop revealing household information over the phone — information that scammers can use to gain access.

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A knock on the door of a Quezon City residence roused the only maid of the house. A man at the door introduced himself as a relative of the homeowner. Once inside, he began firing questions about his “cousin.” While gaining the maid’s confidence he requested the maid to buy him a hamburger while he sat down to rest. Instead, while the unwitting maid was running his errand, he ransacked the bedrooms and fled with the money and jewelry. What good would an antique wedding band be to this thief? Fifty pesos at the pawnshop? This home invasion left the lady of the house in tears, courtesy of the Akyat Bahay Gang.

It’s a blessing to have good cops out on the street, looking after our welfare. But it’s often our very homes that need the most careful guarding.