BIZ BUZZ: BSP to help fight ‘love scams’

Ahead of Valentine’s Day, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has a warning to the public: do not fall for the so-called love scams.

You might have read about the scheme in the news. One prominent case involved a 78-year-old Singaporean actor who lost almost P1.5 million to a woman whom he had met on a dating app and led him to invest in shady online businesses in the Philippines.

Another case involved a 53-year-old French woman who was duped by scammers posing as the actor Brad Pitt.

With many people falling for the scheme, which mostly targets senior citizens, BSP Deputy Governor Elmore Capule said that victims have legal recourse.

For one, Capule said the recently enacted Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (Afasa) compels banks to temporarily hold funds that have been the subject of a dispute, which can immediately stop fraudulent transactions.

But the BSP official flagged the one obstacle in the speedy filing of a complaint: love.

See Also

Inclement weather dampens local factory output  

This, as some senior citizen victims may have a hard time realizing that they had been love-scammed, which can delay the filing of a complaint. In this case, Capule said there were still ways to help old-aged victims.

The BSP official said the children of senior citizen victims may file a complaint as a “guardian” of their parents.

“We call it a guardianship proceeding. Your mother is already incapable of making rational decisions. That’s why you should be a guardian,” he said.