Since last week, the issued about the Aman Futures Group Scam is still in the hot seat of all Philippine news, blogs, social networks, and concerned Filipino citizens.
This early morning, I was listening to Radyo Balita News 5, and it seems that NBI is now getting into the scene.
They are trying to find out who are the perpetrators of this investment scam owned by Manuel Amalilio, who was reportedly fled to Malaysia. You can read the whole details of the new here – Aman Futures Group Scam.
So the question is this – ‘why is it that many Filipinos are still getting scammed by these kind of groups’?
I am not only talking about investment scams, but pyramid networking scams,travel club membership scams, etc.
The first reason is ignorance. We have a Filipino proverb that says, “Walang manloloko kung walang magpapaloko.
Scammers are always looking for people that can be easily convinced by means of glossy and beautiful brochures, testimonies of past customers, endorsement of prominent people,friends,relatives,and even seminars.
They are also blinded by the ‘get rich quick investments.’ However, ignorant is not an excuse, we humans should use our common sense and our thinking before we give our money to these scammers, or before we join any kind of investments.
The second reason is greed. I do not know if this reason will be acceptable to my readers, but as far I see, greed is one of the main reason why many are getting scammed.
So what is greed? It is an excessive desire to possess more.
We humans have the tendency to desire something more. However, this is not good. Greediness will cloud your judgment and reasoning, same with investment scams.
When I was in college, I have a friend who had plenty of money. He earned it by selling food products to the students and it was very profitable.
Then he joined a networking group who promised him that he can earn a big interest of money if he will invest it in the company.At first, it was good, pero habang tumatagal ay umuunti ang kanyang nakukuhang interest.
Hanggang nawalang parang bula ang kumpanya. Nang magkita kami, I asked him why did he joined. He told me that he really wants to earn lots of money. But because his judgment was clouded, he did not study it first and check the company’s credential.
Ang tangi lang nyang iniisip ay ang pagpapadami nang pera. At the end, he regretted what he did.
The third reason and the last is poverty. It is sad to say that many Filipinos are in poverty line, and this problem is always used by scammers to fool many Filipinos.
I remember the story of my wife. She told me that there is a group of people in Palawan claiming that they are connected to the late President of the Philippines and his family.
They used the name of this family to convinced people to join them. They also said that once you join their group, you will be given a share of the family’s wealth like gold,diamonds,treasures,and many benefits too.
But before you can avail this, you need to be a member by paying a monthly membership, and do community services like planting trees etc. Ang masama pa, ang itatanim mo na mga puno ay kailangan mong bilhin sa kanila.
These poor people do not have any ideas that they are just being fooled. Blinded by the company’s promises and scam practices, their hard-earned money goes to nothing.
So how can we avoid this investment scam groups, pyramid networking scam, etc.?
- Avoid seminars that make claims that you’ll get rich in a short time. This is what happened to those who invested in Aman Futures Group. They were told that the money they will invest will offer a high return or it will be doubled. This is not a genuine investment.
- Avoid people or company who pressures you into investing and borrowing money.
- Do not believe the idea that the more you invest money, the high the return is.
- Do not easily believe by their glossy brochures, free seminars, even endorsements of prominent people.
- If you are unsure of their existence and legality, consult your local government of Department of Trade and Industry.
- Avoid a company that says that financial success is easy and not risky. To become a wealthy person involve planning and hard work.
- Do not believed companies that promotes unsolicited emails, surprise phone calls especially those who are based abroad.
