Gullible me

My P500 peso mistake.

My P500 peso mistake.


“There’s a sucker born every minute” exhibition promoter David Hannum once said.

I’m included in that perpetually increasing list of suckers.

Past midnight last Wednesday,June 25, 1:27 a.m. I got this text message from +639752279723:

GlobeAlert: You’re the one lucky selected postpaid plan that has given 40% discount on your billing. To avail your 40%discount just forward your 3-digits pin code to 29752279723. You will receive the 3 digits pin code on next message.

This was immediately followed by another text message that simply said “ 500.”

It must have been lack of sleep because I went to bed 11:30 p.m of June 24 and I was to leave for the airport at 2 a.m.

I immediately forwarded the “500” as instructed.

I was looking forward to a discounted bill the next month.

I opened my cellphone upon arrival in Ilolilo and I saw a similar text message that came in at 6:27 a.m. but came from a different number :+639356598366.

That’s when I realized I was gypped.

Then I remembered I’ve been getting these kinds of messages which I ignored. I checked past messages and yes, I got two previous messages with slight variations. A June 12, 1 pm message said: GlobePostpaid. You’re the one selected postpaid plan that given 35 % discount on your bill just forward this PIN 500 1212 send to 291668950906 (ex. 500 1212 send to 29166895906).

Scrolling down further I saw this Alert message from Globe, which I ignored: “There have been recent cases of text scam being sent to unsuspecting Globe Postpaid customers. If you receive texts from unknown numbers saying you may claim a prize, bill discount or refund by texting a 2+ 10 digit mobile number, be vigilant and do NOT reply. Report these numbers to http://www.globe.com.ph/stopscam (Data charges may apply).

“Rest assured that necessary action will be carried against numbers reported for scamming activities.”

Lessons learned.