jiliko Singapore actor loses P1.5 million to pretty face in PH online scam

Mr Laurence Pang (left) appears during the Jan 17, 2025 episode of the public service programme of Filipino senator Raffy Tulfo.PHOTO: COURTESY OF RAFFY TULFO IN ACTION’S YOUTUBE ACCOUNT

MANILA, Philippines – In a plot twist worthy of a drama series, a veteran Singaporean actor fell for an online charmer who later turned out to be more of a con artist than his next romantic lead.

Mr Laurence Pang, 78, lost nearly 1.5 million pesos (S$35,000) after he was duped by “Mika”, a woman he met on a dating site, into investing his money in an online business scam in the Philippines.

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Mr Pang, who acted in Singapore television shows like Tanglin and Sunny Side Up, recounted his ordeal in Manila during the Jan 17 episode of the public service program Raffy Tulfo In Action, hosted by Filipino broadcaster-turned-senator Raffy Tulfo.

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The show, which airs on local television channel TV5 as well as on YouTube, is hugely popular in the Philippines. Here, Mr Tulfo would invite complainants, often regular citizens, to air their grievances on various issues ranging from extramarital affairs to labor disputes.

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Mr Tulfo would then contact the accused, and act as mediator between the aggrieved parties during the live broadcast.

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The Straits Times has reached out to Mr Pang, but he has yet to respond.

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In the show, Mr Pang said he met Mika through the dating website called PinaLove – a play on Pinay, the colloquial term for Filipina, and love – some time in late 2024. It is branded as a platform where foreign men can find Filipina girlfriends.

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Mr Pang admitted he was quickly charmed by Mika, who seemed to show interest and indicate that she liked him during their online chats.

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After some time, when Mika asked him to invest thousands of dollars to become a reseller of various products for an online platform, he agreed. It was only much later that he realized he was reselling the products on a fake version of Japanese e-commerce platform Rakuten.

“Being an old man, you know, when a young lady tells you, ‘I like you,’ (you’d believe her). That was stupid,” Mr Pang said.

By the closing bell, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) shed 0.26 percent, or 19.31 points, to 7,437, snapping a two-session winning streak.

A screenshot of Mika during a video call (left), in comparison with how she actually looks like in photos she earlier shared with him.PHOTO: COURTESY OF RAFFY TULFO IN ACTION’S YOUTUBE ACCOUNT

As instructed, he transferred money to Mika’s bank account, and she then set up the cryptocurrency and e-commerce platform accounts for him.

At first, Mr Pang resold products quickly. But after three days of brisk transactions on the e-commerce platform, he sensed something was wrong when he noticed the system was designed in such a way that resellers were prevented from withdrawing their profits as long as new orders kept flooding in.

“I cannot withdraw my money. So the sales kept coming very fast… But I believe that these customers were all fake, generated by the company to prevent me from withdrawing my money,” he said.

Upon realizing this, he removed all the products from his online store. But the website administrators must have somehow hacked into his account, as these products were made available again, and new orders kept piling up. He was stuck, unable to withdraw the money he had sunk into the venture.

“That’s the modus operandi of the whole scam. You’ve been scammed, I’m sorry to say that to you,” Mr Tulfo told Mr Pang during the show.

Mr Pang said that much later, he managed to do a video call with Mika, hoping to take a screenshot of her actual face, and he did. Then, it dawned on him: Mika had heavily edited the photos that made him fall for her initially.

Mr Pang was a victim of cyber criminals operating what appears to be a scam hub somewhere in the country, Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group spokeswoman Wallen Mae Arancillo told ST.

She also spoke on the phone with Mr Tulfo during the 20-minute episode featuring Mr Pang.

Under this modus operandi, she said scammers usually target lonely but wealthy individuals, pose as their online boyfriend or girlfriend, then convince them to invest in cryptocurrency or other online business ventures.

Lieutenant Arancillo said Mr Pang had traveled to Manila in December in a bid to go after his scammers. Mr Tulfo’s office and the Philippine police are now helping him as he pursues a case against the cyber criminals.

She added that the actor submitted documents on Jan 20 that are needed to seek a cyber warrant from a local court. A cyber warrant can help identify Mika’s true identity by tracing her payment service provider details.

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“We want to remind the public not to easily trust people they just met online. You don’t know these peoplejiliko, and they can use dummy accounts to make you fall under an investment scam,” said Ms Arancillo.

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