CAVITE CITY – A small business owner working to pay for her cancer treatment was victimized by a food order scam on April 7.
Rea Rabe, owner of House of Turon - Cavite City and a stage four renal cell carcinoma patient, lost P10,700 to the fraudulent transaction.
The scammer initially ordered platters of turon (fried banana rolls) and drinks amounting to P2,300 under the name of Councilor Doods Nuguid for delivery at the City Hall.
"Kalalabas ko lang po noon ng hospital, na-confine po ako for three days. Pinilit ko pong kunin 'yung order kasi nanghihinayang nga po ako dahil dalawang bilao, tapos 25 na fruit tea, tapos 30 pieces na bottled water (I just got out of the hospital, I was confined for three days. I strived to fulfill the order because it was for two platters, 25 fruit teas, and 30 pieces of bottled water)," Rabe told the Manila Bulletin.
Before the delivery, the scammer asked Rabe to buy a total of P8,400 worth of mobile prepaid load supposedly for the use of local government unit (LGU) employees – a favor that other government offices have asked before to make disbursement voucher processing easier.
After sending the load and taking the products to the city hall, Rabe found out that Nuguid never placed an order.
Rabe informed barangay officials about the incident, who filed a blotter report and notified Nuguid about a scammer using his name for fraud.
Later that evening, Nuguid posted about the incident on Facebook and warned netizens about the scam.
The fraudulent transaction was a big blow to Rabe, whose cancer treatment costs over P200,000 per month. Aside from income from her small business, her treatment is funded through the support of her family and church community in Dubai, where she previously worked as a hotel finance manager.
Despite losing the money she was supposed to use for maintenance medication, Rabe tries to stay positive.
"May mga nagde-deliver po na ganyan na hindi na po nakakauwi. We're grateful na safe naman po kami. Ang pera naman po, pwedeng kitain. Nananampalataya po kami sa Panginoon na mawalan man kami ngayon, in control pa rin po siya (There are victims who don't make it home after such an incident. We're grateful that we're safe. Money can be earned. We believe that despite what we lost, God is still in control," Rabe said.