Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto warned the public against scammers who target individuals, particularly those working in the government, and tricking them to invest their hard-earned money and bonuses on illegal investment operations and pyramiding scams during the Christmas season.

Mayor Vico Sotto

Sotto aired his warning after the city government investigated an alleged investment company operating in Pasig that victimizes Pasigueños.

"Sana po ay mag iingat tayo. Pag madaming bonus, madaming pera, madami ding manloloko. Marami pong scam na nangyayare ngayon. Andami kong mga kaibigan nadale ng scam. Merong mga nagbebenta ng lupa na hindi naman sa kanila, merong nagpopost ng mga advertisments gamit picture ko na may binebentang kung ano ano, pero ang pinakamalala na nakita natin nitong Disyembre ay yung sa Benta Paluwagan Scam (Let's all be careful especially during this time that we are receiving a lot of bonuses and money. If there's a lot of money, there would also be a lot of scammers. There are a lot of scamming incidents happening now. Even some of my friends fell victim to these scams. There are those selling land and property that aren't theirs, there are those posting advertisements using my name and photo selling various products, but the worst that we've seen this December is the Benta Paluwagan Scam)," Sotto said.

He said the local government unit (LGU) investigated the said investment company on Dec. 15, where they found out that it doesn't have the necessary permit to conduct any financing, lending, or investment transactions.

He explained that despite easily determining if a transaction or business venture is indeed a pyramid scam or Benta Paluwagan Scam, a lot of people still fall victim to these because the country still has a low financial literacy level.

The mayor advised people on the ways to identify if the transaction is a scam.

"Una, may pangako ng malaking kita at sasabihin nila na sigurado ito. Walang sigurado sa buhay, kapag high reward or malaki ang kita, malaki ang risk. Wala kang makikita sa balat ng lupa na mataas ang reward mataas ang interes na sigurado. Wala pong ganyan (First, they will promise you that the venture will surely reap huge rewards. Nothing is sure in this world and if there's high reward or high revenue, the risk will also be huge. You will never see anything that is assured of high reward and high interest in the face of the Earth)," Sotto stressed.

"Pangalawang senyales eh wala kayong produkto na pinag uusapan. Kung networking may kape kayong tinitinda, may tinitinda kayong damit, sapatos, vitamis, eh baka pwede yan pero pag aralan nyo pa din. Pero pag walang produkto, ang pinaguusapan lang eh magbigay ka dito ng 20 mil tapos sa katapusan magiging 30 mil yan, eh imposibleng totoo yun (The second sign is that there's no product involved in your transaction. If it's a legitimate networking operation, you will be tasked to sell coffee, clothes, shoes, or even vitamins, however, please take time to study it thoroughly. But if there's no product involved and you're just asked to invest P20,000 which by the end of the month will allegedly become P30,000, then that's not true. That's definitely a scam)," he added.

Sotto assured Pasigueños that the city government will do a full investigation on the case and will go through the process of filing criminal charges against the people behind the company.