Payment First, Payment Stolen

This is a submitted written article for a School Requirement in Investigative Journalism Subject co-written with Nina Talinao.

The impact of the pandemic on jobs and households 

The surge of the pandemic has brought grievances and losses all around the world. One  of these cases is unemployment. Some establishments had to be closed and employees laid off.  It devastated a lot of families since most relied on the income from their jobs to support their  household or personal needs. If they did not lose their jobs, they either had lower income or lesser  working hours. It could be both. 

In April 2020, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported that the unemployment rate  reached 17.6% which meant that 7.2 million Filipinos were unemployed due to the economic  shutdown during the pandemic. In October, the rate climbed down to an estimated 8.7% which is  equal to 3.8 million Filipinos. The same numbers were observed for January 2021.  

On the other hand, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported on job  displacement in 2020. More than 420,000 Filipinos were affected. It is stated that there is a 3-year  national employment recovery plan that would focus on restarting economic activities, restoring  business confidence, upgrading the workforce, and facilitating the labor market across job  seekers.

However, people, especially the affected, cannot afford to wait for a recovery plan. Such  high figures from both agencies are alarming, not only to the economy but to the individuals and  the families since most depend on their job incomes.  

In a time of difficulty, it is no surprise that people would turn to one of the growing  businesses in the country. 

Online business: Ukay-Ukay 

Ukay-ukay is derived from the Filipino phrase 'halukay' which means "digging" or "make a  mess." It usually refers to stores here in the country where second-hand items such as clothes,  bags, shoes, and other accessories are sold at a cheap price. However, because of the pandemic  ukay-ukay stores had to be closed because they were deemed to be unnecessary but it doesn't  mean that the ukay-ukay community would stop being profitable. 

Because of the loss of jobs of many Filipinos today, they turned to small businesses. One  of them is online Ukay but in a more presentable way which requires a lot of effort to execute it  with the use of technology or should we say online selling. 

As we scroll on Facebook, we would see several online live selling of clothes posts where  there is a person presenting clothes and asking their viewers to comment "Mine + code of the  item" if they want to avail themselves of the particular item shown on the screen. Not only at live  selling we could find clothes being sold but also through posted pictures of each clothing with the  same instructions mentioned. These items can be pre-loved but they are mostly from the ukay-ukay suppliers.

The sellers we see on Facebook aren’t the supplier themselves. They bought the items  they are selling from a supplier who they have been in the transaction with online because face to-face transactions are limited and perhaps not allowed. This means to say that the overall  transactions of ukay business today are online.

'Ukay ukay Direct supplier Bundle and Prepacked Mura dito' is a Facebook group that was  created July 20, 2020. It has 147,000 members and has over 521,000 posts in the last 28 days.  There are approximately 7,000 and up posts each day where you will find suppliers and people  looking for ukay-ukay bales to sell for the start-up of their online business of clothes.  

Ukay bales or prepacks mostly cost Php 1,000 to Php 10,000 where each clothing mostly  costs Php 16. For example, a Php 5,000 ukay bale consists of 300 items inside which you are still unsure  if the quality is okay or not. It is up to you how you will strategize so you would not be lost from  the money you invested.

The suppliers look for locators of second-hand items from other countries  such as South Korea, Japan, China, and the United States. They will distribute these bales to  people who want to invest in starting their ukay business. 

While most of the people in the Facebook group are looking for something that can help  them earn in these trying times, there are also posts about being scammed as the only money  they were keen to start their business with was stolen from them online.

Investment went wrong: online ukay scam  

In the ukay Facebook group mentioned above, we found Leng, Jamelle, and Miezel. They  are different individuals who took a risk in ukay-ukay to start their supposed-to-be online clothing  business. It was to sustain their daily financial needs but they ended up getting devastated  because they were scammed by the supplier they were supposed to buy their ukay bale from. 

Jerry 'Leng' Arcangel is a 19-year-old who transferred to Cavite after their house was  demolished in Las Piñas. He already lost his parents and was now independent but because of  the pandemic, that made it harder for him to look for a job. He decided to borrow money from  people he knew so he can start up a small ukay business. On February 19, 2021, he had an  online transaction through Messenger chat with Maria Gladys Elegado, a supplier or seller of ukay  bales.  

Leng wanted to buy a bale of t-shirts from Maria and the price of the bale was Php 2,400.  Maria said that she was from Batangas so Leng should add Php 300 for the shipping fee. He  asked for assurance so Elegado sent him a non-professional driver's license. Leng said that the  rule was for him to pay first before the item was shipped and he agreed and paid her through  Smart Padala.  

Leng sent Maria the proof of payment but after days of waiting for the item to be delivered,  Maria's account on Facebook was no longer available and Leng was not able to message her  anymore. 

The same fate is experienced by Jamelle V. Javellana, 16 years old from Poblacion Dos,  Tagbilaran City, Bohol as she posted her experience of buying a bale of ukay of shorts and jersey  from Clarissa Rosario from Bulacan who turned out to be a scammer.  

The seller has a rule of "Pay Now, Ship Later." Jamelle agreed and said that she would  pay through Palawan Express but the seller insisted that she should just pay through Gcash. The  seller showed her an identification card (I.D.) as proof that she was a legitimate seller. 

After Jamelle paid for the total of the products, the seller was no longer responsive and  she was blocked. When Jamelle realized that the seller was a scammer, she searched her name  in Facebook posts and discovered that there have been a lot of posts about Rosario being a  scammer.  

She tried reporting her to their barangay but the barangay said that it would be impossible  to sort out her case because the seller is from Bulacan which is very far from their place.

There was also a comment of a screenshot of a conversation of another person with  Clarissa in which they confirmed Jamelle's post. Clarissa said that it was just a made-up story  from Jamelle against her, that she just delivered the wrong item to Jamelle and she got mad about  it, and that they settled the case in the Barangay. In Jamelle's defense, how can they settle it  when she is living in Bohol and Clarissa is in Bulacan? Jamelle continues to warn other people  about Clarissa being a scammer. 

Unfortunately, the same case of scamming happened to Miezel Acorda, 18 years old, from  Famy Laguna who bought branded overruns clothes from Melody Castro that cost Php 1,000.  

The seller had a rule of "Payment First". When she was about to pay her, the seller gave  her a Gcash number and Miezel discovered that the name registered in the Gcash was not the  same as the seller's name on Facebook. Miezel asked her about it and Melody sent an ID for  assurance that she is a legitimate seller. 

Three days after paying through Gcash, Miezel was about to ask for an update from  Melody but she can no longer be reached because she was already on Facebook. 

These three cases are just a few of those hundred posts about scams posted in the ukay  Facebook group. In an article posted by CNN last October 27, 2020, that talks about the  cybercrime list from March to September 2020, online shopping is the most common form of an  online scam.  

Online shopping scam, according to PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group Spokesperson Police  Major Joseph Villaran, is where criminals pretend to be online sellers. The items would fail to be  delivered once the money is transferred which is a situation that is similar to the cases mentioned  above. 

Meanwhile, in an interview with Attorney Manuel Ventura of MVP Lawfirm, he said that the  cases mentioned above are identified as scamming which is punishable under the law. Such  crime is punishable for the violation of Article 315 (Estafa) of the Revised Penal Code about  Cybercrime Act of 2011. It can be classified as a financial or business crime. 

According to Atty. Ventura, the elements of Estafa through deceit, is as follows: 

● Then there must be a pretense or fraudulent representation as to the offender’s power,  influence, qualifications, property, credit, agency, business, or imaginary transactions. 

● That such pretense or fraudulent representation was made or executed before or  simultaneously with the commission of the fraud;

● That the offended party relied on the pretense, fraudulent act, or fraudulent means and  was induced to part with his money or property; and 

● That, as a result thereof, the offended party suffered damage. 

"All of these elements are present in the cases mentioned. There was a pretense on the part  of the seller that she is selling something which in reality there was none. That such pretense was  made before the commission of the crime. That the buyer relied on such pretense and that the  buyer suffered damage when she paid for the product but no such product was sent to her or she  has not received her order," he explained. 

The Penalty for Estafa is as follows: 

1st. The penalty of prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its minimum  period, if the amount of the fraud is over 12,000 pesos but does not exceed 22,000 pesos,  and if such amount exceeds the latter sum, the penalty provided in this paragraph shall be  imposed in its maximum period, adding one year for each additional 10,000 pesos; but the  total penalty which may be imposed shall not exceed twenty years. In such cases, and in  connection with the accessory penalties which may be imposed under the provisions of this  Code, the penalty shall be termed prision mayor or reclusion temporal, as the case may be. 

2nd. The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods, if the amount of  the fraud is over 6,000 pesos but does not exceed 12,000 pesos. 

3rd. The penalty of arresto mayor in its maximum period to prision correccional in its minimum  period if such amount is over 200 pesos but does not exceed 6,000 pesos; and 

4th. By arresto mayor in its maximum period, if such amount does not exceed 200 pesos. 

These cases must be reported since they fall under the law but unfortunately for the case  of Leng, he was not able to do so because the police station was too far from his residence and  he does not have any money to afford to go there.

As for Jamelle, the barangay she tried to report  the case to said that they cannot do anything about it because the scammer's place was far from  them. Miezel does not have any knowledge about it and what she only did was to post her  experience with the scammer to warn the people about the person.

Scam or not? 

There are instances when sellers in the ukay industry also post their misfortunes with  buyers on the Internet. 

Junlyn San Juan is a seller and in an interview, she had identified the different kinds of  buyers they encounter besides the ones who follow through with their orders and payment. There  is the “bogus buyer” who don’t claim their orders, “joy miners” who comment “mine” on a seller’s  life but don’t really have the money to purchase the item, and lastly, the “scammer” who receive  their orders but don’t pay for them.  

On January 31, 2021, Junlyn uploaded screenshots of her conversation with a buyer in  the same ukay Facebook group from the previous section. The buyer had ordered 3 bundles of  ukay clothes that cost Php 1,500. With a shipping fee, it totals Php 1,784. The mode of payment  was Cash on Delivery (COD) per request of the buyer and Junlyn packed the items and commuted  to ship them to the courier. However, the buyer did not claim the items when the courier delivered  them, reasoning to Junlyn that she does not have the money to pay for the bundles yet.  

The bundles were sent back to Junlyn with a note from the courier that her customer was  a “bogus buyer”. The buyer proposed an agreement where she would pay half through the  “payment first” transaction and the other half would be when the courier delivers again. Junlyn  agreed but the buyer did not follow through again even after she was contacted. The seller  reported her to the courier and Shopee but nothing has happened. 

Another case of a seller encountering a “bogus buyer” is when a Facebook page named  Thrifted Collections posted on February 22, 2021. The buyer ordered two boxes of ukay clothes  and they agreed on the mode of Cash Upon Pick-Up (COP) through LBC as their mode of  transaction.  

The seller paid for the shipping of the boxes which was a total of Php 290 since one box  was Php 145. The fee was non-refundable. The buyer was supposed to pay a total of Php 1290  but they did not arrive at the LBC to pick up the boxes. Since they were not claimed, they had to  be sent back to the seller who tried to contact the buyer but was eventually blocked.  

More posts are circulating on Facebook that sellers would caption as “scam”. However, it  is important to discern what can really be considered as a “scam” under the existing laws in the  Philippines. 

When the cases of “bogus buyers” were consulted with Atty. Manuel Ventura, he pointed  out that the seller never parted ways with the product they are trying to sell since their bundles  were returned to them after the buyers failed to claim them.

Under Estafa through deceit, one of  the elements emphasizes that the offended party would suffer damage if they were induced to  part with their money and property. Applying this to the cases of Junlyn and Thrifted Collection,  Atty. Ventura does not consider them as scams unlike the cases of the buyers in the previous  section. 

Furthermore, he adds that there isn’t yet any law passed by Congress that penalizes  pranks or unclaimed orders.  

What can be done 

With the number of COVID-19 cases still rising, it seems like online buying and selling  would continue to grow. The ukay-ukay business, in particular, would be appealing since it is  affordable to buyers and it can aid and provide an income to those who lost their jobs during this  pandemic. However, this also means that scams would still be a problem and would have the  possibility of happening frequently.  

The Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) has reported that  cases of online scamming have risen during the quarantine. According to them, there has been a  record of 869 online scams from March to September 2020. 

In the case of the buyers who were scammed and to other victims of similar situations,  Atty. Ventura suggests immediately report to police authorities so they could file the necessary  complaints.  

Unfortunately, it cannot be denied that some cases do go unreported. Some resort to  taking screenshots of their conversations and posting them on their page or sharing them in online  groups to alert other buyers and sellers in the ukay industry.

Others go to the report option of the  apps they are using. People have even come forward to authority figures to look for solutions but  were still left empty-handed. The buyers and sellers who have agreed to tell their stories are proof  of this reality. 

Strengthening the law 

As the situation of COVID-19 in the country continues to worsen, everything is still  uncertain for the future and there are still not enough job employments for people who need them.  Filipinos are striving hard to meet their daily needs to survive and one of their newfound sources  of income is through online selling. Unfortunately, there are still people who are taking advantage  of others even if they are aware of their financial problems.  

The pandemic has changed the way people live so that the way of the transaction should be done  online as much as possible for safety purposes. It makes people safe from COVID-19 but it  doesn't protect them from being scammed online. Even if they are just in their homes, their money  can be stolen by people who are far away from them with just a single click.

For small online business starters whose investment went to nothing like Leng, Jamelle,  and Miezel, it shows how unsafe it is to have online transactions as the Philippines does not have  a strong law about these cases since most of them went unreported. 

To strengthen the existing law against online scams, Atty. Ventura said that “We can  strengthen our laws by becoming more vigilant in our community and participate in every aspect  of law enforcement by reporting any suspicious activities to the police authorities." 

Furthermore, aside from the prevention of crime and victimization, he added that there is  also a need for the promotion of community safety through education, development of prevention  programs, and citizen awareness.