I need help with the owner of a consultancy and locating him if possible. I paid for a service to get help with a business plan and so far paid a total pf P1,515. The total was supposed to be P1,900 and I paid half of it on the 4th of January, then he messaged on the 7th of January saying he needs an extra 375 because he wants to secure letters of intent and sub contracts.
On Friday on the day he said the documents were ready for collection but he said he needed P190 for printing and I asked why he keeps asking for money when I'm supposed to pay 50% deposit and I unfortunately bought the excuse of expenses.
He claimed he was done and we should meet at Masa for collection but never showed up after waiting for hours. He messaged me later in the evening saying we should meet Saturday and when I kept calling that day, he never answered his phone nor his messages. I said I would like a refund. I have realised that his so called consultancy is a scam and he has taken my money through false pretences.
The bad news is that I've dealt with this company before, a few times and the stories were all very similar. This company is paid money to deliver business services but they fail to do so. And then they go quiet.
The last time heard from this company they reacted badly to a post in the Consumer Watchdog Facebook group. They suggested that the money they owed an earlier customer would be paid only when I removed the post criticising them. This is always a bad move. Telling a customer that they will only get service when they stop complaining is not the way to build a successful company. In fact it's the best way to form a company that either fails or has Directors going to jail.
And now I hear about him again. This time he told me that the business plan "is ready for collection just that we failed to meet up with her due to our delayed appointments and meetings. We can surely meet her up on Monday or send it via email as well on Monday."
And then on the Monday he said: "we have emailed her business plan, please confirm if she has received it before we knock off."
There's only one problem. She didn't receive it. There's no sign it was ever sent. I think we should give him one last chance to send the plan before we escalate this.
A warning for Facebook users (again)
Many of the people running scams on Facebook look like real people, perhaps even people we know. That's because they ARE the profiles of people we know. It's family members, friends, workmates or strangers but these are their real profiles which have been taken over by scammers.
How do they take over people's Facebook profiles? It's a lot simpler than people think. The accounts aren't "hacked", the hackers don't have amazing technological skills, it's much simpler. They get the login details and passwords simply by asking for them. And the victims hand them over without any protest.
What makes them do this? Money.
Late last year a real Facebook profile tried to post this message in the Consumer Watchdog Facebook group: "I will help 20 people with P700 who can complete the word that start with M and end with D." I contacted the poster asking if was true. They told me "before we proceed on the giveaway to tell you that we are doing this giveaway for the people that are serious and really in the need of money hope you understand?" They then asked for my name and basic details, including my email address and cell number and then said: "you will receive a confirmation code now, send it to me immediately so we can verify your account for the giveaway".
That code is the one Facebook sends to someone who has forgotten their password. If they get that code they could change your Facebook password, take over your account, and then use it to run their scams.
Please don't fall for this. Do you really want to give away your Facebook identity to a scammer that all your friends and relatives will think is you?
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