SCAM!?

Scam?

When I woke up today I saw this text message from ABC, daniel’s friend. He asked me to refer to him 20 contacts. I was pissed off. Let me tell you what happened to me and tintin the past week.

Thursday, Januay 10.

Tintin got a call from ABC. I don’t want to mention his name kasi he’s also a Mapuan. Pero we really don’t know him personally. We were even wondering where he got tintin’s number. Anyway, ABC was asking Tintin if she is interested in having a part time job. Sakto we are really looking for one so she said yes. She was told that she’ll be earning 15,000-30,000 pesos, not bad for a part time job. She was asked to go to their office the next day at 630pm, the address was 15^th floor Octagon Bldg, San Miguel Ave. in Ortigas. The whole conversation daw was really fast and the line was choppy so she wasn’t able to ask for the company name and some other important details. All she got was the address. When tintin told me about it, we were both excited. But since siya lang ung tinawagan I asked if I could come along and bring my resume just in case pwede rin akong magapply. Excited din ako. Lol.

Friday, January 11.

After class, we went straight to Megamall to have lunch there tapos magliwaliw muna coz 630pm pa nga ung appointment dun sa “PART TIME JOB”.

When we got at the 15^th floor of the Octagon Bldg we saw this huge PHARMANEX sign. There were lots of people on that floor. All of them were wearing business attires. I was thinking if we were on the wrong building or something kasi obviously we were on casual attire tapos kami lang ung mukang mga bata dun. Parang nawawalang bata kami. We didn’t have any idea what was going on. There was this small office na parang may nagaganap na interview. Basta wala kaming alam. Tapos napansin namin na beside that office e merong room which was filled with products. Tintin and I got the idea na NETWORKING BUSINESS eto. We wanted to leave the place right then and there. Pero ABC and DEF, parang upline something ni ABC, started to talk to us. Asked us why we wanted to have a part time job and what we would do to the money that we would get from “business”. Small talks lang. I don’t remember anything about them telling us the name of the “business.

After minutes of waiting, we were told to go inside a room with the rest of the people that were there. Sobrang dami namin dun. Cguro at least a hundred. Tintin and I were asked to sit apart. Pero dahil wala kaming kausap pareho and we were sitting there that seemed like forever(sobrang tagal kasi kami pinaghintay), I asked her na lumipat nalang sa tabi ko so we wouldn’t be bored to death.

It was almost 7pm. The presentation started. I saw the name “SYNERGY 1 VENTURES’ on top of the ppt slide. They were talking about NU SKIN ENTERPRISES, its background, the products they sell, and how we could be their partners. The whole presentation took 2 hours to finish. Grabe tagal. Pero I got interested. Ewan ko. When I heard I had to pay 12,600 pesos to be their partner, I was shocked. They said it was a small amount to pay dahil you’ll get 15k per month naman.

After the presentation. We were asked by DEF if we were interested. We said yes, but still told him that we have a problem getting the 12,600 kasi we’re still students and we do not know where to find the money. He was doing all the talking. He said he was able to pay for his college tuition fees since he started, he was able to go to hongkong, etc. because of the business. Masarap pakinggan diba. He said we are required to pay that Monday. GUlat ako e. I was thinking on how we can produce that big sum of money in just 2 days given that those 2 days are a Saturday and a Sunday. We were shown the products tapos un. He lent us a magazine that we could read. The magazine was obviously about NU SKIN din. He told us to meet them that Monday.

I was shocked pero I was determined to get the money and join them. SObra. I was so convinced with all DEF’s words that were stuck in my head (paying tuition fees on my own, helping my parents.. etc.. ). Tapos un.

Saturday and Sunday came. I wasn’t able to get the money I needed. I went through my mom’s things and found my passbook. I have 7000+ there. I planned on withdrawing 7K from my savings account. Uhm.. I was thinking twice. Pero dahil sa naiisip ko nanaman ung mga sinabi ni DEF e aion I took the passbook and put it in my bag.

Monday.

DEF called me while I was in my class and scheduled the meeting. I told him mga 3pm nalang cguro kasi nga baka matraffic kami on the way there. I told him I was able to borrow 5k lang. he said it was okay and that he’ll find a way to help me come up with the rest of the money.

Tintin and I talked about it tapos aion I changed my mind. Not that I was influenced by her not to join “the business” but I was kinda hesitant kasi. She said if im not 100% sure then I might as well not pursue it. I texted DEF and told him im not joining anymore but I’ll meet up with him to return the magazine.

When he approached me sabi niya agad “What’s the problem?” tapos I told him ayaw ko na. Then he sweet talked me again. He said ok lang daw kung 5k muna ibigay ko. I was persuaded the second time. Ewan ko what was going on inside my head. I think that was greed. Lol. Pero honestly he was so good at talking. I was so convinced in joining… This second time he didn’t say the name of the business again. NU SKIN and PHARMANEX lang. tapos un. I said wala pa ung 5K sakin I have to get it from a friend. He said to fill up a form para mareserve ung slot ko since 5 lang daw ung kukunin. He said to meet with him the next day. And then he gave me a brochure.

Tintin was so mad at me. Kasi nmn daw hindi ko pinanindigan ung sinabi ko na hindi n ko sasali. Even ako nagulat e. Sa totoo lang hindi ko lam kung bakit bigla akong napaOO. Weird nga. Parang nahypnotize. Lol.

Tapos that night tintin did a research and found so many blog entries about it. Puro negative ung nakita ko. Biro mo kaya pala di nila masabi ung name ng company nila is because sobrang dami ng names na ginagamit nila. Ung nakita ko Synergy 1 Ventures pero meron pang Synergy Ventures tapos Synergy Global International. Tapos I read na pagkajoin mo e bibigyan ka ng homework na MAGGGAWA KA NG LIST NG 300 CONTACTS NA IREREFER MO AT TATAWAGAN. Tapos hindi ko pa nakitang registered sa DTI or any government offices ung company nila. Sabi nila registered daw sila sa SEC pero sabi ng mom ni tin madali lang daw magparegister dun sa SEC e. Although registered sila sa SEC, I still think they’re illegally operating. Kahit internationally recognized ung NU SKIN at kahit anu mang product or company un at KAHIT SAANG LUPALOP PA NG MUNDO NAKAREGISTER YANG COMPANY NILA PERO HINDI NAKAREGISTER NG MATINO SA PILIPINAS HINDI SIYA LEGAL DITO! They are going to make people sell medicines pero they do not even stress na BFAD approved un! Hay. People these days are just so into money that they deceive people just to get rich. Cruel noh.

I texted DEF the next day telling him that I wont be joining “again”. SAbi niya pumunta daw ako sa office niya still kasi dapat ko daw ibalik ung brochure na binigay niya sakin. What the f*ck! E photocopy lang naman un. As if namang hindi niya kaya magreproduce nung brochure na un. Kung mayaman siya he wouldn’t even bother asking me to bring it back to him. Another tactic. Im so glad I didn’t fall for it again.

ETO ANG LESSONG DUN.

WAG MAGPALOKO AT WAG MANLOKO.