FOREIGN & FILIPINO TREASURE HUNTERS - BEWARE OF FAKE
GOLD BUYING SCAMS!
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It has been brought to the attention of TSEATC that there are several groups of
major Filipino National Syndicates that are all out to cheat, rob at gun point and
scam foreign gold buyers. These crooks are professionals and very good at convincing you that they
know of persons who has real recovered gold and want to sell it. They have already cheated several
foreigners and even innocent Filipino's out of hundreds of thousands of dollars (Believe it or not - in
2001 I was also one of their victims - and I got robbed at gun point of US$151,000.00) and TSEATC is
now waging an all-out-war against these crooks. We don't want to see anyone else get cheated by these
low-lifes! They are giving the rest of the good Filipino people a bad name. If TSEATC can prevent just ONE
person from getting scammed - then this web page would have served its purpose.
The Cheaters have several Modus Of Operandi - Four of which I will list below;
1) ROBBERY - HOLDUP : Done with a GUN - Usually in a Hotel Room. They make all kinds of excuses why they do not want to do a legitimate transaction INSIDE a BANK. Their most common classic excuses are;
a) "We are afraid that our gold will get confinscated as soon as we bring it into the bank". This is total bullshit and they know it! Anytime you hear anything like this - they are setting you up for a robbery!
b) "We want to do the exchange in a NEUTRAL and SAFE Place". I fell sucker to this excuse because I already knew and trusted the Intermediary Filipina lady (Marilyn Uy) for over four months. Believe me - the NEUTRAL & SAFE place (usually a hotel room they will ask you to rent) they choose to do the transaction in is indeed NEUTRAL & SAFE - FOR THEM!!! They only choose the hotels where the security is LOUSY so that they are able to BRING THEIR GUN IN so they can ROB YOU!! In my case the hotel of their choice was the LEGEND HOTEL, in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. We afterwards found out that this hotel, in fact, had been used in February by the same group to rob another foreigner during a transaction! (See SCAM NO. 7 & 7a).
2) SWITCHING SCHEME : First they show you some REAL gold. Later (usually during the transaction) they somehow manage to completely switch the real gold which you think you are paying for - for some fake gold.
3) BANK MANIPULATION : Believe it or not, some of these cheaters even have very good connections working inside their banks. Please ready below of the case where some Americans were cheated out of millions of dollars due to this scheme! This one is really scary. Refer to SCAM NUMBER 6.
4) CASH ADVANCE SCHEME : This includes all kinds of excuses as to why they need you to give them upfront funds so they can; "go to the province and bring the gold to sell you", or "they need to give the Holder a certain amount of advance cash before he will allow them to bring the gold to you", etc. etc. DON'T FALL FOR ANY OF THESE EXCUSES! If they really had the gold to sell, they could manage somehow to sell one bar (or a piece of one bar) to the local jeweller for mobilization funds.
5) KIDNAPPING SCHEME : This is one of the worst and most desperate and dangerous schemes. Their usual targets are wealthy Chinese Filipino businessmen who purchase recovered gold.
Now we will go into detail of how one groups operations work;
SCAM NUMBER 1;
Characters involved;
* Supposed Finders of Gold : Backwards etas (Negritos), a tribal people who live up in the mountains. They are afraid of dealing with the people of the city...and have a limited concept of money (at least, this is what you are told...).
* Trustee : A Togalog city person who represents the interest of the etas, and acts as a liaison for them.
* Neutral Shill : A person who supposedly has no connection/interest with the seller. He/she befriends the buyer and builds some sort of trust. This person will act as if they are on the buying side the whole time.
* The Buyer : AKA - One Sucker (this is YOU).
(The fact of the matter is - that the Supposed Finders, Trustee and the Neutral Shill are all good buddies and are out everyday looking for a new Buyer/Sucker (remember....that's YOU, in case you have already forgotten your important role in this circus of events...))
SCENARIO:
We will skip the details on how you have come to know the trustee and the shill and all the wonderful stories they have been feeding you (the Sucker) about the gold bars (of no less than 99.999 purity) which has been found by the etas and will pick up where...;
...You and the shill will meet with the trustee in a remote mountain location (Tarlac or wherever). After about 10-15 minutes, an old eta woman and her grandson come down a path through the woods. The old woman is walking/squatting and will not come within 30 feet of you (maybe it's because she really has BRASS bars to sell you - NOT GOLD!). She craddles the supposed gold in a cloth in her arms as if it is a baby. As you try to approach her she would jabber and back away. After much coaxing from her grandson, she allows you (Sucker) to approach her and she shows you the gold. What she will show you will look very real (but believe me - IT IS NOT REAL GOLD). She may even actually allow you to hold it for a brief few seconds. She will then snatch it back and back away from you, jabbering something to the effect of, "please don't hurt it". You may even be allowed to measure and weight it (which is a total waste of time anyway, no matter what it weights).
Next, you (Sucker) will ask to take a sampling for a chemical test. The grandson will take the sample for you - which will come out to be 22-24k purity. Unbeknown to you, the stone rubbing sample taken by the boy was done quickly and carefully with a 22-24k gold ring (or something else he had concealed in his hand).
Another sampling trick is for them to let you (Sucker) actually witness them cut/saw off a small corner of a gold bar to bring to the assayer for testing. It will test successfully to a purity of 24k gold. BUT - this is not the bar (or bars) that will be sold to you when you meet these crooks up in the remote mountains to make the payment/exchange. When you meet them in the mountains and ask what happened to the original bar which the sample had come from - they will tell you that they left it back in the treasure site - 3 hours walk away. They will then tell you to come back later in the day to allow them to walk back to get the original bar. You will wait. When they return, the same spectacle with the old lady pretending to be afraid to approach you will commence. They may also now have an almost identical copy of the bar which you earlier witnessed the corner get cut off of (but it won't be the same bar). By now it will be getting dark and they will be pushing you to make some kind of decision.
If no decision is made, there will be a suppossed arguement of some sort, the old woman (or whoever happens to be closest to your cash) will grab the money and start to run up into the mountains. As she is running, she will accidentally drop the two supposed gold bars. The shill (or trustee) will grab the dropped bars, start running to your car and shouting for you to follow him. You will run, too (remember - it is most likely by this time already dark and you do not know who may be waiting in the jungle for you). You guys will drive off in a panic. When you arrive safely at home - this is when you will discover that the accidentally dropped gold bars are really intentionally dropped BRASS bars. Guess what - YOU HAVE JUST BEEN HAD!
Notes regarding markings on above fake gold bars;
* These particular bars were stamped, "AGIMO". To our knowledge, there is (and never has been) any such stamp issued on gold bars.
* Bars were also stamped "99.999" (purity). REGARDING World War II GOLD REFINING:
WWII gold refining state-of-the-art was 2-9's and a 5. (example : 99.5% pure). 24 Karat today (1998) is 999.+ Fineness and that is state-of-the-art. 5-9's (example: 999.99 just does not exist, except in rare small quantities which has been refined over and over again and used for standards. The cost would be 10 times the cost of 4-9's and a 5.
Thanks to Cecil Cross for informing us of the above listed scam no. 1. He learned the hard way - don't let this happen to you!
SCAM NUMBER 2;
Let me tell you of a big scale scam that happened very recently (February, 1999) in one of the 5-star hotels in Manila victimizing a Japanese national for US$350,000.00!
A certain Benson (Malaysian) introduced to the Japanese national (Buyer) one Ricky also a Malaysian, Roy (a Filipino) and another Japanese who is married to a Filipina.
On the appointed date, Ricky, Roy and the Japanese (and some other Filipinos who were introduced as representatives of the owners of the gold bars alleged to be “mountain people”) brought to the hotel room fifteen (15) “gold” bars weighing 6.2 kg each. The Japanese buyer sawed off a portion of a bar handed to him for testing (about ¼ of an inch) which tested positive upon application of nitric acid. Next, the Japanese buyer started drilling the rest of the bars for testing but the Japanese companion of the sellers reprimanded the Japanese buyer in Nipongo telling him that he should not be suspicious because he (Japanese seller) knows the bars to be genuine and that it was getting late—nearly 3:00 p.m. and the bank from which the payment will be withdrawn closes at 3:00 p.m. So, the Japanese buyer merely put his signature on each of the bars (presumably to prevent “switching”) and together with the rest of the group proceeded to the bank to withdraw the agreed price: US$350,000.00 net of discount!
Later in the evening, the Japanese buyer, with the help of a Filipino friend tested the “gold” bars which turned out to be (of course!) brass bars! They didn't even get the bar from which the genuine sample was sawed off! The Japanese swore that he would have the “cheats” liquidated but up to this writing, the swindlers are nowhere to be found!
Thanks to Jun C. for informing us of this scam.
SCAM NUMBER 3;
I went to see a friend, to find out about his friend who called who said that they have gold for sale. We talked to these people and tried to do business with them, they said that, "Oh yeahh!! we have at least 25 tons of gold buried in of the remote areas and we need is a P2,000,000.00 pesos for mobilization to get this loot out".
I know that these people are fake. I asked them to get at least 5 bars of gold for me to see and assay then I will pay for it. They asked for cash in advance and I said no, we do it through bank to bank you take your bar to me and after I have checked and assayed it I will release the money to your account, or else no deal. Needless to say, they never returned with any gold bars to show me.
If you bump in to these kind of dealers then you know what to do - Stay away from them! But careful they also sometimes mention that this is a group of NPA ( new peoples army ) they claimed that they have gold also.
Thanks to this informer whom wishes to remain anonymous...
SCAM NO. 4;
This story was given to TSEATC by a trusted friend:
A wealthy Filipina lady (buyer) was offered to purchase a 12.5 kg gold bar from some supposed 'finders' (sellers). Meeting was arranged in the Province at a neutral place of a common trusted friend of the 'buyer'. The 'buyer' even brought along her own personal 'assayor' from Manila to test and verify the fineness of the supposed 'gold bar' in question. Half-payment was also brought by the 'buyer' and one 12.5 'gold bar' was brought by the 'sellers'. The arrangement was that once the gold was assayed and proven to be genuine - the 'gold bar' was to be locked in a safe at the neutral trusted friend's place. Then, on the following morning, the 'buyer' would produce the remaining half of the cash, pay the 'sellers' and they would all go their seperate ways.
When shown the 'gold bar', the 'buyer' and assayor noticed that the 'gold bar' already had a 5mm deep hack-saw mark/slot across it's center ('seller's' said they sawed it to prove that it was real). So, the assayor then took the hack-saw and sawed some gold shavings out of the already existing slot. These shavings were then tested and assayed by the assayor. The shavings proved positive to be 23 Karat gold. The 'gold bar' and the half-payment funds were then locked into the friends safe. As pre-arranged, the 'buyer' was allowed to keep the key to the safe while the assayor and the 'sellers' slept overnight at the trusted friend of the 'buyer's' place.
The following day the balance of funds were paid in full by the 'buyer' to the 'sellers' for the 'gold bar'. Safe was unlocked - 'gold bar' was removed. The 'buyer' took posession of the 'gold bar' and started the long drive back to Manila. Once in Manila, the 'buyer' asked her assayor friend to thoroughly test the 'gold bar' again. Guess what?.... The assayor was totally 'shocked' to discover that the 'gold bar' turned out to be nothing but a BRASS BAR coated with gold paint! You may be asking yourself, "But how could this be? The bar shavings proved to be 23 Karat gold positive! Maybe the assayor was a cheat? Maybe the 'trusted friend' of the 'buyer' had another key and somehow switched the bar in the safe? Maybe the assayor, trusted friend AND the 'sellers' were all out to cheat their friend? The answer is NO to all of these questions.
Here is how the 'seller' cheated the 'buyer';
Before bringing the fake gold bar to the buyer for assay inspection - the 'sellers' took a hack-saw and sawed a deep slot across the top of the brass bar. Then, they melted 23 Karat gold and poured it into this existing hack-saw slot. They already assumed (correctly, I might add!) that the assayor would agree to saw some gold shavings out of this existing slot and that these gold shavings would prove to be 23 Karat gold! Unfortunately, the assayor did NOT take the actual bar measurements and calculate volume to determine what the actual weight of a bar according to the volume should be. If she had - she would have smelled a rat because the weight would not have calculated properly!
Beware People! Don't fall sucker to these Lieing, Cheating Thiefs!
SCAM NO. 5;
This story was submitted by; Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales.
We are a full service Precious Metals dealer, and were recently approached by a potential client who, had procured a large lot of qty 132 Platinum spheres - and wished for us to find a cash buyer for this lot (since we do business daily with many of the larger well known Refineries and Primary Distributors). The client assured us that the balls assayed in Hong Kong at 92.8% paltinum and 3.92% palladium, with the remainder trace metals of less then 1% each, and weighed in at 8 Kilo's each (a potential $11million dollar deal if true), since each ball would value at over $84,000.00 each for PM content.
We advised the client that if, the balls assayed as they said they would - we would be able to line up a cash buyer for the entire lot. The client then comissioned us to find a buyer, and they would deliver the first shipment of balls, at which time we aggressively pursued lining up firm "buy"commitments from our business associates.
The balls originated in the Phillippines (probably Mindanao), & Phillipine nationals were the primary's involved as sellers. We are fairly skeptical at such claims, and our approach is always "we don't mind helping finding buyers for Real Deals - but you must produce the product, and it must assay true by our associates, if it does, then immediate cash settlement is available, and
immediate transfer of ownership is applied", as we do represent firms and clients that are always seriously in the "buy" for precious metals.
Anyway, to sum up, this client went to much trouble and expense to procure & transport the first shipment of Platinum Balls to us here in California, the client was allowed to witness the assay - which was one of the shortest we ever experienced, because, when we were first allowed to see the product, it was obvious to us that the balls were not Platinum, because of their weight, size, and casting. However, we proceeded to continue the assay - an XFR showed the metal content to be 50/50 Lead and Tin - a follow up core drill for a test stone also confirmed that the metal was a Tin/Lead composite. At which time the reality of the situation was still not fully comprehended by the seller - due most likely to the shock of the findings.
As best as we can determine, the problem was (and we were told this after the fact - they should have told us first, so we could've advised them about the potential for fraud), that the selling client accepted a local assay on sole fragments/drilling's supplied by the Fillipino's - who assured the client that these drillings were from a random pick of the qty 132 ball lot - never actually taking the entire ball in for a independent assay, with a sample taken by the assayer, in their labs.
Needless to say, this was a deal that was a scam from the beginning - and these unknowing gentlemen took the bait - hook,line and sinker, going to great expense to supply a down payment, go "out of pocket" on flying the balls to the U.S., clearing through U.S. customs, overnight hotel stays, and paying for the assay fee at our contact's refinery - only to find the balls contained Less than $50.00 of metal per sphere !!!
We take the time to write you because, we noticed your website exposes such scams - and after seeing the loss that these
person(s) experienced, we hope that you post this info on your site, to prevent any others from having to experience such
embarassment & personal loss. At GFCB our only loss is a couple days time & several Oversea's phone calls wasted, the
gentlemen who contacted us were not so lucky, and were scamed for Tens of Thousand's of $'s U.S.
We hope that TSEATC can help prevent any such future situations.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Good Luck.
Regards,
Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales.
SCAM NO. 6;
This story was submitted by; a Filipino male who knew one of the American Buyers.
There was a group of Americans who managed to purchase a few real bars of recovered gold. This encouranged them to return back to the USA to raise a few million in funds with the plan to purchase about one metric ton of recovered gold in the Philippines.
A joint account (which should require TWO signatures to retrieve anything) was opened whereas the so-called gold sellers put their gold into one account (bank safety deposit box) and the American buyers put their funds into another account. Details are sketchy - but for some reason - the American were told to return back to the bank the following day to complete the transaction.
On the following day when the American Buyers returned back to the bank they were told that both accounts had been closed and everything was already removed! "But", they asked, "How could this be? We had a joint account. This kind of thing shouldn't be able to happen!" The bank manager could only say that he didn't know. Perhaps they should talk to the bank teller who they applied for the account with. Well, guess what, she had left early that day so they were told to return back to the bank on the following day. Guess what? The bank teller never returned back to her job.
Sounds like an inside connection if I ever heard of one! Unfortunately, those American Buyers lost millions of dollars with this scam! This scam just goes to show you that you better be wary of doing business even in some of the smaller rural banks throughout the Philippines.
The Cheaters have several Modus Of Operandi - Four of which I will list below;
1) ROBBERY - HOLDUP : Done with a GUN - Usually in a Hotel Room. They make all kinds of excuses why they do not want to do a legitimate transaction INSIDE a BANK. Their most common classic excuses are;
a) "We are afraid that our gold will get confinscated as soon as we bring it into the bank". This is total bullshit and they know it! Anytime you hear anything like this - they are setting you up for a robbery!
b) "We want to do the exchange in a NEUTRAL and SAFE Place". I fell sucker to this excuse because I already knew and trusted the Intermediary Filipina lady (Marilyn Uy) for over four months. Believe me - the NEUTRAL & SAFE place (usually a hotel room they will ask you to rent) they choose to do the transaction in is indeed NEUTRAL & SAFE - FOR THEM!!! They only choose the hotels where the security is LOUSY so that they are able to BRING THEIR GUN IN so they can ROB YOU!! In my case the hotel of their choice was the LEGEND HOTEL, in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. We afterwards found out that this hotel, in fact, had been used in February by the same group to rob another foreigner during a transaction! (See SCAM NO. 7 & 7a).
2) SWITCHING SCHEME : First they show you some REAL gold. Later (usually during the transaction) they somehow manage to completely switch the real gold which you think you are paying for - for some fake gold.
3) BANK MANIPULATION : Believe it or not, some of these cheaters even have very good connections working inside their banks. Please ready below of the case where some Americans were cheated out of millions of dollars due to this scheme! This one is really scary. Refer to SCAM NUMBER 6.
4) CASH ADVANCE SCHEME : This includes all kinds of excuses as to why they need you to give them upfront funds so they can; "go to the province and bring the gold to sell you", or "they need to give the Holder a certain amount of advance cash before he will allow them to bring the gold to you", etc. etc. DON'T FALL FOR ANY OF THESE EXCUSES! If they really had the gold to sell, they could manage somehow to sell one bar (or a piece of one bar) to the local jeweller for mobilization funds.
5) KIDNAPPING SCHEME : This is one of the worst and most desperate and dangerous schemes. Their usual targets are wealthy Chinese Filipino businessmen who purchase recovered gold.
Now we will go into detail of how one groups operations work;
SCAM NUMBER 1;
Characters involved;
* Supposed Finders of Gold : Backwards etas (Negritos), a tribal people who live up in the mountains. They are afraid of dealing with the people of the city...and have a limited concept of money (at least, this is what you are told...).
* Trustee : A Togalog city person who represents the interest of the etas, and acts as a liaison for them.
* Neutral Shill : A person who supposedly has no connection/interest with the seller. He/she befriends the buyer and builds some sort of trust. This person will act as if they are on the buying side the whole time.
* The Buyer : AKA - One Sucker (this is YOU).
(The fact of the matter is - that the Supposed Finders, Trustee and the Neutral Shill are all good buddies and are out everyday looking for a new Buyer/Sucker (remember....that's YOU, in case you have already forgotten your important role in this circus of events...))
SCENARIO:
We will skip the details on how you have come to know the trustee and the shill and all the wonderful stories they have been feeding you (the Sucker) about the gold bars (of no less than 99.999 purity) which has been found by the etas and will pick up where...;
...You and the shill will meet with the trustee in a remote mountain location (Tarlac or wherever). After about 10-15 minutes, an old eta woman and her grandson come down a path through the woods. The old woman is walking/squatting and will not come within 30 feet of you (maybe it's because she really has BRASS bars to sell you - NOT GOLD!). She craddles the supposed gold in a cloth in her arms as if it is a baby. As you try to approach her she would jabber and back away. After much coaxing from her grandson, she allows you (Sucker) to approach her and she shows you the gold. What she will show you will look very real (but believe me - IT IS NOT REAL GOLD). She may even actually allow you to hold it for a brief few seconds. She will then snatch it back and back away from you, jabbering something to the effect of, "please don't hurt it". You may even be allowed to measure and weight it (which is a total waste of time anyway, no matter what it weights).
Next, you (Sucker) will ask to take a sampling for a chemical test. The grandson will take the sample for you - which will come out to be 22-24k purity. Unbeknown to you, the stone rubbing sample taken by the boy was done quickly and carefully with a 22-24k gold ring (or something else he had concealed in his hand).
Another sampling trick is for them to let you (Sucker) actually witness them cut/saw off a small corner of a gold bar to bring to the assayer for testing. It will test successfully to a purity of 24k gold. BUT - this is not the bar (or bars) that will be sold to you when you meet these crooks up in the remote mountains to make the payment/exchange. When you meet them in the mountains and ask what happened to the original bar which the sample had come from - they will tell you that they left it back in the treasure site - 3 hours walk away. They will then tell you to come back later in the day to allow them to walk back to get the original bar. You will wait. When they return, the same spectacle with the old lady pretending to be afraid to approach you will commence. They may also now have an almost identical copy of the bar which you earlier witnessed the corner get cut off of (but it won't be the same bar). By now it will be getting dark and they will be pushing you to make some kind of decision.
If no decision is made, there will be a suppossed arguement of some sort, the old woman (or whoever happens to be closest to your cash) will grab the money and start to run up into the mountains. As she is running, she will accidentally drop the two supposed gold bars. The shill (or trustee) will grab the dropped bars, start running to your car and shouting for you to follow him. You will run, too (remember - it is most likely by this time already dark and you do not know who may be waiting in the jungle for you). You guys will drive off in a panic. When you arrive safely at home - this is when you will discover that the accidentally dropped gold bars are really intentionally dropped BRASS bars. Guess what - YOU HAVE JUST BEEN HAD!
Notes regarding markings on above fake gold bars;
* These particular bars were stamped, "AGIMO". To our knowledge, there is (and never has been) any such stamp issued on gold bars.
* Bars were also stamped "99.999" (purity). REGARDING World War II GOLD REFINING:
WWII gold refining state-of-the-art was 2-9's and a 5. (example : 99.5% pure). 24 Karat today (1998) is 999.+ Fineness and that is state-of-the-art. 5-9's (example: 999.99 just does not exist, except in rare small quantities which has been refined over and over again and used for standards. The cost would be 10 times the cost of 4-9's and a 5.
Thanks to Cecil Cross for informing us of the above listed scam no. 1. He learned the hard way - don't let this happen to you!
SCAM NUMBER 2;
Let me tell you of a big scale scam that happened very recently (February, 1999) in one of the 5-star hotels in Manila victimizing a Japanese national for US$350,000.00!
A certain Benson (Malaysian) introduced to the Japanese national (Buyer) one Ricky also a Malaysian, Roy (a Filipino) and another Japanese who is married to a Filipina.
On the appointed date, Ricky, Roy and the Japanese (and some other Filipinos who were introduced as representatives of the owners of the gold bars alleged to be “mountain people”) brought to the hotel room fifteen (15) “gold” bars weighing 6.2 kg each. The Japanese buyer sawed off a portion of a bar handed to him for testing (about ¼ of an inch) which tested positive upon application of nitric acid. Next, the Japanese buyer started drilling the rest of the bars for testing but the Japanese companion of the sellers reprimanded the Japanese buyer in Nipongo telling him that he should not be suspicious because he (Japanese seller) knows the bars to be genuine and that it was getting late—nearly 3:00 p.m. and the bank from which the payment will be withdrawn closes at 3:00 p.m. So, the Japanese buyer merely put his signature on each of the bars (presumably to prevent “switching”) and together with the rest of the group proceeded to the bank to withdraw the agreed price: US$350,000.00 net of discount!
Later in the evening, the Japanese buyer, with the help of a Filipino friend tested the “gold” bars which turned out to be (of course!) brass bars! They didn't even get the bar from which the genuine sample was sawed off! The Japanese swore that he would have the “cheats” liquidated but up to this writing, the swindlers are nowhere to be found!
Thanks to Jun C. for informing us of this scam.
SCAM NUMBER 3;
I went to see a friend, to find out about his friend who called who said that they have gold for sale. We talked to these people and tried to do business with them, they said that, "Oh yeahh!! we have at least 25 tons of gold buried in of the remote areas and we need is a P2,000,000.00 pesos for mobilization to get this loot out".
I know that these people are fake. I asked them to get at least 5 bars of gold for me to see and assay then I will pay for it. They asked for cash in advance and I said no, we do it through bank to bank you take your bar to me and after I have checked and assayed it I will release the money to your account, or else no deal. Needless to say, they never returned with any gold bars to show me.
If you bump in to these kind of dealers then you know what to do - Stay away from them! But careful they also sometimes mention that this is a group of NPA ( new peoples army ) they claimed that they have gold also.
Thanks to this informer whom wishes to remain anonymous...
SCAM NO. 4;
This story was given to TSEATC by a trusted friend:
A wealthy Filipina lady (buyer) was offered to purchase a 12.5 kg gold bar from some supposed 'finders' (sellers). Meeting was arranged in the Province at a neutral place of a common trusted friend of the 'buyer'. The 'buyer' even brought along her own personal 'assayor' from Manila to test and verify the fineness of the supposed 'gold bar' in question. Half-payment was also brought by the 'buyer' and one 12.5 'gold bar' was brought by the 'sellers'. The arrangement was that once the gold was assayed and proven to be genuine - the 'gold bar' was to be locked in a safe at the neutral trusted friend's place. Then, on the following morning, the 'buyer' would produce the remaining half of the cash, pay the 'sellers' and they would all go their seperate ways.
When shown the 'gold bar', the 'buyer' and assayor noticed that the 'gold bar' already had a 5mm deep hack-saw mark/slot across it's center ('seller's' said they sawed it to prove that it was real). So, the assayor then took the hack-saw and sawed some gold shavings out of the already existing slot. These shavings were then tested and assayed by the assayor. The shavings proved positive to be 23 Karat gold. The 'gold bar' and the half-payment funds were then locked into the friends safe. As pre-arranged, the 'buyer' was allowed to keep the key to the safe while the assayor and the 'sellers' slept overnight at the trusted friend of the 'buyer's' place.
The following day the balance of funds were paid in full by the 'buyer' to the 'sellers' for the 'gold bar'. Safe was unlocked - 'gold bar' was removed. The 'buyer' took posession of the 'gold bar' and started the long drive back to Manila. Once in Manila, the 'buyer' asked her assayor friend to thoroughly test the 'gold bar' again. Guess what?.... The assayor was totally 'shocked' to discover that the 'gold bar' turned out to be nothing but a BRASS BAR coated with gold paint! You may be asking yourself, "But how could this be? The bar shavings proved to be 23 Karat gold positive! Maybe the assayor was a cheat? Maybe the 'trusted friend' of the 'buyer' had another key and somehow switched the bar in the safe? Maybe the assayor, trusted friend AND the 'sellers' were all out to cheat their friend? The answer is NO to all of these questions.
Here is how the 'seller' cheated the 'buyer';
Before bringing the fake gold bar to the buyer for assay inspection - the 'sellers' took a hack-saw and sawed a deep slot across the top of the brass bar. Then, they melted 23 Karat gold and poured it into this existing hack-saw slot. They already assumed (correctly, I might add!) that the assayor would agree to saw some gold shavings out of this existing slot and that these gold shavings would prove to be 23 Karat gold! Unfortunately, the assayor did NOT take the actual bar measurements and calculate volume to determine what the actual weight of a bar according to the volume should be. If she had - she would have smelled a rat because the weight would not have calculated properly!
Beware People! Don't fall sucker to these Lieing, Cheating Thiefs!
SCAM NO. 5;
This story was submitted by; Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales.
We are a full service Precious Metals dealer, and were recently approached by a potential client who, had procured a large lot of qty 132 Platinum spheres - and wished for us to find a cash buyer for this lot (since we do business daily with many of the larger well known Refineries and Primary Distributors). The client assured us that the balls assayed in Hong Kong at 92.8% paltinum and 3.92% palladium, with the remainder trace metals of less then 1% each, and weighed in at 8 Kilo's each (a potential $11million dollar deal if true), since each ball would value at over $84,000.00 each for PM content.
We advised the client that if, the balls assayed as they said they would - we would be able to line up a cash buyer for the entire lot. The client then comissioned us to find a buyer, and they would deliver the first shipment of balls, at which time we aggressively pursued lining up firm "buy"commitments from our business associates.
The balls originated in the Phillippines (probably Mindanao), & Phillipine nationals were the primary's involved as sellers. We are fairly skeptical at such claims, and our approach is always "we don't mind helping finding buyers for Real Deals - but you must produce the product, and it must assay true by our associates, if it does, then immediate cash settlement is available, and
immediate transfer of ownership is applied", as we do represent firms and clients that are always seriously in the "buy" for precious metals.
Anyway, to sum up, this client went to much trouble and expense to procure & transport the first shipment of Platinum Balls to us here in California, the client was allowed to witness the assay - which was one of the shortest we ever experienced, because, when we were first allowed to see the product, it was obvious to us that the balls were not Platinum, because of their weight, size, and casting. However, we proceeded to continue the assay - an XFR showed the metal content to be 50/50 Lead and Tin - a follow up core drill for a test stone also confirmed that the metal was a Tin/Lead composite. At which time the reality of the situation was still not fully comprehended by the seller - due most likely to the shock of the findings.
As best as we can determine, the problem was (and we were told this after the fact - they should have told us first, so we could've advised them about the potential for fraud), that the selling client accepted a local assay on sole fragments/drilling's supplied by the Fillipino's - who assured the client that these drillings were from a random pick of the qty 132 ball lot - never actually taking the entire ball in for a independent assay, with a sample taken by the assayer, in their labs.
Needless to say, this was a deal that was a scam from the beginning - and these unknowing gentlemen took the bait - hook,line and sinker, going to great expense to supply a down payment, go "out of pocket" on flying the balls to the U.S., clearing through U.S. customs, overnight hotel stays, and paying for the assay fee at our contact's refinery - only to find the balls contained Less than $50.00 of metal per sphere !!!
We take the time to write you because, we noticed your website exposes such scams - and after seeing the loss that these
person(s) experienced, we hope that you post this info on your site, to prevent any others from having to experience such
embarassment & personal loss. At GFCB our only loss is a couple days time & several Oversea's phone calls wasted, the
gentlemen who contacted us were not so lucky, and were scamed for Tens of Thousand's of $'s U.S.
We hope that TSEATC can help prevent any such future situations.
Thank you for your time and consideration. Good Luck.
Regards,
Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales.
SCAM NO. 6;
This story was submitted by; a Filipino male who knew one of the American Buyers.
There was a group of Americans who managed to purchase a few real bars of recovered gold. This encouranged them to return back to the USA to raise a few million in funds with the plan to purchase about one metric ton of recovered gold in the Philippines.
A joint account (which should require TWO signatures to retrieve anything) was opened whereas the so-called gold sellers put their gold into one account (bank safety deposit box) and the American buyers put their funds into another account. Details are sketchy - but for some reason - the American were told to return back to the bank the following day to complete the transaction.
On the following day when the American Buyers returned back to the bank they were told that both accounts had been closed and everything was already removed! "But", they asked, "How could this be? We had a joint account. This kind of thing shouldn't be able to happen!" The bank manager could only say that he didn't know. Perhaps they should talk to the bank teller who they applied for the account with. Well, guess what, she had left early that day so they were told to return back to the bank on the following day. Guess what? The bank teller never returned back to her job.
Sounds like an inside connection if I ever heard of one! Unfortunately, those American Buyers lost millions of dollars with this scam! This scam just goes to show you that you better be wary of doing business even in some of the smaller rural banks throughout the Philippines.
SCAM NO. 7;
Although I am really ashamed to even admit it - this story is being submitted by; ME!
Cheaters/Crooks Involved; 1) Marilyn Vertucio Uy (aka; Marilyn Uy Riviera, Mrs Uy) - main Intermediary/Negotiator of the group, 2) FUENTES Syndicate Family (so-called Gold OWNERS/SELLERS); a) Jun "Kulot" (Kulot means curly hair) cousin of Ryan and Benjo. b) Jun "Taba" (Taba means fat) - reliable source found Jun's real name is Ryan Fuentes but changed name to Cesar Quiambao (Libat in the civil registar). c) Benjo, reliable source found Benjo's name is Benjamin Fuentes (brother of Jim Taba or Ryan Fuentes and cousin of Jim Kulat. d) Bobong - cousin of Ryan and Jun Taba (reliable source found real name is Albert Esteban. e) Jim or Jimmy - unknown real name.
When I was in the Philippines in Feburary 2000 I was introduced to a Filipina named MARILYN UY. According to her, she knew a group/family who had recovered WWII gold and wanted to sale it. I was brought to the hotel room of the Sellers (Casablanca Hotel) where they showed me two REAL 6.2 kg bars (BURMA three-star Hallmark). The family claims to have recovered more than 40 metric tons from three sites (all in General Santos, Mindanao, area).
Their selling procedure was presented to me as follows;
1) The Buyer must purchase a minimum of 500 kg for the first trance. Please note that they pushed very hard for this to be at least ONE metric ton for the first trance.
2) Buyer was to put an Advance of 10% Down Payment towards purchase for the gold. They claim that this 10%
Although I am really ashamed to even admit it - this story is being submitted by; ME!
Cheaters/Crooks Involved; 1) Marilyn Vertucio Uy (aka; Marilyn Uy Riviera, Mrs Uy) - main Intermediary/Negotiator of the group, 2) FUENTES Syndicate Family (so-called Gold OWNERS/SELLERS); a) Jun "Kulot" (Kulot means curly hair) cousin of Ryan and Benjo. b) Jun "Taba" (Taba means fat) - reliable source found Jun's real name is Ryan Fuentes but changed name to Cesar Quiambao (Libat in the civil registar). c) Benjo, reliable source found Benjo's name is Benjamin Fuentes (brother of Jim Taba or Ryan Fuentes and cousin of Jim Kulat. d) Bobong - cousin of Ryan and Jun Taba (reliable source found real name is Albert Esteban. e) Jim or Jimmy - unknown real name.
When I was in the Philippines in Feburary 2000 I was introduced to a Filipina named MARILYN UY. According to her, she knew a group/family who had recovered WWII gold and wanted to sale it. I was brought to the hotel room of the Sellers (Casablanca Hotel) where they showed me two REAL 6.2 kg bars (BURMA three-star Hallmark). The family claims to have recovered more than 40 metric tons from three sites (all in General Santos, Mindanao, area).
Their selling procedure was presented to me as follows;
1) The Buyer must purchase a minimum of 500 kg for the first trance. Please note that they pushed very hard for this to be at least ONE metric ton for the first trance.
2) Buyer was to put an Advance of 10% Down Payment towards purchase for the gold. They claim that this 10%
would cover charges and fees such as; a) Government Taxes. b) Shipping Fees. c) Legal Documentation
Fees. e) Insurance. f) etc.
Afterwards, I returned to Singapore to raise funds to purchase their gold. At first it all sounded good, BUT, we afterwards decided that their 10% Down Payment Method sucked big-time because they could not offer us any kind of insurance or security for our 10% Down Payment Funds. So, for the next three months while in Singapore and when I returned back to Manila we met this group several times for discussions as to what kind of security they could offer us for our Advance 10% Down Payment - BUT - each time our discussions ended in a dead lock because they simply couldn't offer us ANY KIND OF SECURITY for our Down Payment Cash!
So, we offered to purchase from them straight CASH buying - BUT - they didn't like it. They called this LOCAL BUYING and said that it was "too dangerous to expose themselves selling this way".
Anyway, they then brought another REAL 6.2 kg (BURMA three-star Hallmark) to my hotel room for my German partner to see. However, we were still unimpressed with their Advanced 10% NO SECURITY for us Method. Still - NO DEAL - we didn't want to have anything to do with it. Total bullshit and some kind of scam.
Then, on June 21st, Marilyn Uy called me up to say that Jun (the suppossed cousin of Benju) wanted to sell me four bars of 6.2 for CASH. Since I already knew Marilyn for over four months now and had seen THREE REAL bars of 6.2 kg - I was ready to deal with them now. That was my mistake. Don't let it be yours.
I met Marilyn and the gang at KFC (Mandaluyong - just off EDSA and down the street from the Legend Hotel). There I negotiated with Jun about the CASH purchase of the four bars. I wanted to do the transaction in the Bank, but, they (Jun and Marilyn) came up with all kinds of clasical excuses as to why they didn't want to do business there (see excuses above at ROBBERY/HOLD UP). They said that it would be best to rent a NEUTRAL & SAFE hotel room (little did I know that the NEUTRAL & SAFE does NOT apply to ME!). We rented a room at the Legend Hotel (Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, just off of EDSA).
So, my next BIG mistake was trusting these assholes and going to the bank to withdraw the funds to pay for the four bars. Marilyn and one of her buddies went with me to PNB. I put Marilyn's commission inside my personal foulder and the rest of the cash was in three plastic bags (full of PESOS). We went back to the Legend Hotel and brought all the money inside the room. About 30 minutes later there was a knock on the door. Two guys came in (one was carrying a heavy bag) and straight away went into the bathroom. Within 20 seconds they both came out rushing straight towards me and one of them was pointing a .38 revolver in my and my partner's face. We were both hog-tied and wrapped with packaging tape.
The gang took the cash, my wallet, hand phone and my camera and left. Everything was quiet but then about 30 seconds later Marilyn Uy came back to the room to get her hand bag and to remove her commission from my personal folder (she had obviously in such a hurry she had forgotten it before). The funny part about it is as she was taking her commission, she said two times to me, "Tony, I'm sorry. Tony, I'm sorry". She was arrested the following morning and placed in the Mandaluyong jail for about a week (until her bail was posted). Although she claims she is innocent - there is too much evidence against her and she will be convicted at trial later this year for armed robbery and will be spending a long time in jail. Her other five male accomplices will soon be following Marilyn for long jail terms because the NBI and Police are right on their tails.
We later came to know that another gold buyer was robbed at that exact same Legend Hotel (Mandaluyong) in February this year. Doesn't sound like the kind of place I'll be stayin in anytime soon in the near future.
I also forgot to mention about what was in the heavy sack that one of the robbers had carried into the room. We later opened this sack and it contained four FAKE 6.2 kg bars (Brass Bars covered with Gold Leaf). The bars were the exact same dimensions as the REAL 6.2 kg bars. Their weight ranged from 2.4 to 2.8 kgs. From a few feet- these FAKE bars actually looked quite real. Beware People - THIS IS A MAJOR SYNDICATE OUT LOOKING TO RIP-OFF FOREIGN GOLD BUYERS! They have gone through an extreme amount of trouble to actually MASS PRODUCE BRONZE GOLD LEAFED COVERED FAKE 6.2 kg BARS! The bars all had REPUBLIC OF CAMBODIA Hallmarks.
SCAM NO. 7a;
REGARDING their Advanced 10% Down Payment Method - EVERYONE BEWARE cause this group is out to CHEAT EVERYONE! We have come to know that an American Buyer named Vermont Twaiman was cheated by this same syndicate group with this Advance 10% Down Payment Method. First, they sold Mr. Twaiman three REAL 6.2 kg (BURMA three-star Hallmark) bars late last year (1999). He was now hooked and then went to the USA to raise funds for their Advance 10% Down Payment Method. He returned back to Manila early this year (2000) with over Nine Hundred Thousand Dollars (approximately 10% of One Metric Ton). He paid this group their Advance 10% (US$900,000.00) and then they VANISHED! He lost it ALL!
The facilitator/Intermediary who help set Mr. Twaiman up for this rip-off was a Filipina American named Anita Smith (aka; LA). She lives in California (possibly in the Los Angeles area).
SCAM NO. 8;
This story was submitted by; Albert Umali (President of THAPI).
In July 1999 the story of Revern Father Renato Frias who delivered P500,000 to the Traveller's Inn Hotel in Guadalupe, Makati City. He first saw the REAL gold which was showed to him inside his church (Catholic). Story is a bit sketchy but after Father Frias purchase the bars and brought them back to his place he discovered that they had somehow been switched with FAKE bars. He had paid half a million Pesos as down payment and the balance was to be paid later in his office.
The Buyer (who lost his cash) was a Chinese named Patrick Diong. A Filipina woman named Nancy served as the facilitator. The two Seller's were going by the names of Ruby and Alex.
SCAM NO. 9;
This story was submitted by; Tony Wells and Albert Umali (President of THAPI).
Place: CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (North Mindanao).
Cheaters: Doctor (Dentist) Jim Roldan.
Others Involved (not sure if Guilty or Innocent): Jude Gondaya, Ped Quajin.
We heard from a reliable source in July 2000 that there was recovered gold for sale in CDO City. I sent Albert Umali there to check out the situation. He arrived and our friend, Jun, met him at his hotel. There they were made to wait until late in the evening (another old trick of Cheaters - make you wait until late at night before finally contacting you) before the so-called Doctor finally called Al to arrange a meeting at some beach resort located out of town.
Once there, the Doctor, started telling Al their rip-off procedure; "In order to see the commodity, the Owner wants you to bring Two Million Pesos to his Safe-House as a deposit first". Well, I happened to phone Al at that exact time and that was all we needed to hear to know that this was a classic potential set-up rip-off procedure! I immediately told Al to, "Walk away NOW and go back to your hotel. Don't even look back. Don't even say, "Good Bye!" Come back to Manila first thing in the morning!"
This was a potential set-up for us to get ripped-off big time but we already know all of their tricks and excuses and what it was leading us up to.
SCAM NO. 9a;
This story is lacking details but it happened to a friend of mines. It was submitted by; Cesar.
Place: CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (North Mindanao).
Cheaters: Names Unknown (Possibly same Syndicate as above group).
Cesar told me the story that he was in CDO a few months back and they were told to bring a sack of Pesos to a hotel room before they could see the commodity. The so-called Sellers later entered the hotel room with a GUN. Needless to say, Cesar and his friend were relieved of their sack of Pesos and any other valuables they had on them.
People - DON'T LISTEN TO ANY OF THEIR EXCUSES - IF THEY DON'T WANT TO DO BUSINESS IN THE BANK - TELL THEM TO GO AND SCREW THEMSELVES CAUSE THEY ARE SETTING YOU UP FOR A ROBBERY!!!
SCAM NO. 10:
This story was submitted by francisco;
Place: Somewhere in the province (not mentioned exactly where).
Cheaters: Old Man, young boy (names unknown).
There's a retired couple from Manila (Phil.) who bought a house and lot in our place. Its been advertised for a long time that its for sale but the local neighborhood can't afford. Inside the lot is an old grown pine tree.
The couple do a lot of renovation and landscaping till comes a time when the wife noticed an old man with a boy staring at the old pine tree. Since they almost see them outside their fence everyday looking at the said tree, the couple asked what they are up to.
The old man through the boy as his interpreter (since he don't know of any language other than his native dialect) told the couple that his 'apong' (grand father) always dreaming of a gold buried inside their lot, and to recover it they have to butcher a native chicken, two eggs and a candle and with prayer of 'apong' they will know where the gold is. The couple agreed, nothing to lose anyway they say. The boy said he will bring his elder brother to do the digging.
So, the following day before sunrise and after all the ceremonies has been done, the elder brother dug the east side of the tree as per instruction of 'apong'. After a waist deep of digging, there you are, a two gold bars with Japanese writing on it. The couple said, since it's two bars 'it would be one for you one for me' and they all agreed.
But wait, the three said they don't know of any body where they can sell their share and one thing more its dangerous for them carrying gold around the city looking for a buyer. So, they ask the couple if they can just buy their share so they can go back to the Province that same day.
Looking promdi (from the province) and innocent the couple think that they can bargain with them at a low price. They offered them ninety thousand pesos they reasoned out that it's the only money they got in the bank. So, they have their healthy breakfast while waiting for the bank to open. In short they got their money and the couple have their gold.
And from the stories of the treasure hunters, scammer and everything, the three were the ones who buried the 'FAKE' gold bars when they know that the place is for sale. No wonder I said, after a few months the house is for sale again.
*********************************************************************************
TRANSACTION TIPS...
ONE VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE HERE FOR ALL POTENTIAL GOLD BUYERS TO REMEMBER IS;
ONLY DO GOLD TRANSACTIONS WITHIN THE SAFETY OF A MAJOR BANK! I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH TO ALL OF YOU POTENTIAL GOLD BUYERS OUT THERE... Believe me.. I learned the HARD WAY. There's nothing like looking down the barrel of a .38 revolver pointed in your face to make you realize what a FOOL YOU HAD BEEN! Don't trust ANY Filippino, American, or whoever tries to ask you to BRING MONEY OUT OF THE BANK! I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE SETTING YOU UP TO BE ROBBED! Don't be as STUPID as I was! Trust NO One! NO BANK - NO TRANSACTION! Its as SIMPLE AS THAT! PERIOD!!
Afterwards, I returned to Singapore to raise funds to purchase their gold. At first it all sounded good, BUT, we afterwards decided that their 10% Down Payment Method sucked big-time because they could not offer us any kind of insurance or security for our 10% Down Payment Funds. So, for the next three months while in Singapore and when I returned back to Manila we met this group several times for discussions as to what kind of security they could offer us for our Advance 10% Down Payment - BUT - each time our discussions ended in a dead lock because they simply couldn't offer us ANY KIND OF SECURITY for our Down Payment Cash!
So, we offered to purchase from them straight CASH buying - BUT - they didn't like it. They called this LOCAL BUYING and said that it was "too dangerous to expose themselves selling this way".
Anyway, they then brought another REAL 6.2 kg (BURMA three-star Hallmark) to my hotel room for my German partner to see. However, we were still unimpressed with their Advanced 10% NO SECURITY for us Method. Still - NO DEAL - we didn't want to have anything to do with it. Total bullshit and some kind of scam.
Then, on June 21st, Marilyn Uy called me up to say that Jun (the suppossed cousin of Benju) wanted to sell me four bars of 6.2 for CASH. Since I already knew Marilyn for over four months now and had seen THREE REAL bars of 6.2 kg - I was ready to deal with them now. That was my mistake. Don't let it be yours.
I met Marilyn and the gang at KFC (Mandaluyong - just off EDSA and down the street from the Legend Hotel). There I negotiated with Jun about the CASH purchase of the four bars. I wanted to do the transaction in the Bank, but, they (Jun and Marilyn) came up with all kinds of clasical excuses as to why they didn't want to do business there (see excuses above at ROBBERY/HOLD UP). They said that it would be best to rent a NEUTRAL & SAFE hotel room (little did I know that the NEUTRAL & SAFE does NOT apply to ME!). We rented a room at the Legend Hotel (Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, just off of EDSA).
So, my next BIG mistake was trusting these assholes and going to the bank to withdraw the funds to pay for the four bars. Marilyn and one of her buddies went with me to PNB. I put Marilyn's commission inside my personal foulder and the rest of the cash was in three plastic bags (full of PESOS). We went back to the Legend Hotel and brought all the money inside the room. About 30 minutes later there was a knock on the door. Two guys came in (one was carrying a heavy bag) and straight away went into the bathroom. Within 20 seconds they both came out rushing straight towards me and one of them was pointing a .38 revolver in my and my partner's face. We were both hog-tied and wrapped with packaging tape.
The gang took the cash, my wallet, hand phone and my camera and left. Everything was quiet but then about 30 seconds later Marilyn Uy came back to the room to get her hand bag and to remove her commission from my personal folder (she had obviously in such a hurry she had forgotten it before). The funny part about it is as she was taking her commission, she said two times to me, "Tony, I'm sorry. Tony, I'm sorry". She was arrested the following morning and placed in the Mandaluyong jail for about a week (until her bail was posted). Although she claims she is innocent - there is too much evidence against her and she will be convicted at trial later this year for armed robbery and will be spending a long time in jail. Her other five male accomplices will soon be following Marilyn for long jail terms because the NBI and Police are right on their tails.
We later came to know that another gold buyer was robbed at that exact same Legend Hotel (Mandaluyong) in February this year. Doesn't sound like the kind of place I'll be stayin in anytime soon in the near future.
I also forgot to mention about what was in the heavy sack that one of the robbers had carried into the room. We later opened this sack and it contained four FAKE 6.2 kg bars (Brass Bars covered with Gold Leaf). The bars were the exact same dimensions as the REAL 6.2 kg bars. Their weight ranged from 2.4 to 2.8 kgs. From a few feet- these FAKE bars actually looked quite real. Beware People - THIS IS A MAJOR SYNDICATE OUT LOOKING TO RIP-OFF FOREIGN GOLD BUYERS! They have gone through an extreme amount of trouble to actually MASS PRODUCE BRONZE GOLD LEAFED COVERED FAKE 6.2 kg BARS! The bars all had REPUBLIC OF CAMBODIA Hallmarks.
SCAM NO. 7a;
REGARDING their Advanced 10% Down Payment Method - EVERYONE BEWARE cause this group is out to CHEAT EVERYONE! We have come to know that an American Buyer named Vermont Twaiman was cheated by this same syndicate group with this Advance 10% Down Payment Method. First, they sold Mr. Twaiman three REAL 6.2 kg (BURMA three-star Hallmark) bars late last year (1999). He was now hooked and then went to the USA to raise funds for their Advance 10% Down Payment Method. He returned back to Manila early this year (2000) with over Nine Hundred Thousand Dollars (approximately 10% of One Metric Ton). He paid this group their Advance 10% (US$900,000.00) and then they VANISHED! He lost it ALL!
The facilitator/Intermediary who help set Mr. Twaiman up for this rip-off was a Filipina American named Anita Smith (aka; LA). She lives in California (possibly in the Los Angeles area).
SCAM NO. 8;
This story was submitted by; Albert Umali (President of THAPI).
In July 1999 the story of Revern Father Renato Frias who delivered P500,000 to the Traveller's Inn Hotel in Guadalupe, Makati City. He first saw the REAL gold which was showed to him inside his church (Catholic). Story is a bit sketchy but after Father Frias purchase the bars and brought them back to his place he discovered that they had somehow been switched with FAKE bars. He had paid half a million Pesos as down payment and the balance was to be paid later in his office.
The Buyer (who lost his cash) was a Chinese named Patrick Diong. A Filipina woman named Nancy served as the facilitator. The two Seller's were going by the names of Ruby and Alex.
SCAM NO. 9;
This story was submitted by; Tony Wells and Albert Umali (President of THAPI).
Place: CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (North Mindanao).
Cheaters: Doctor (Dentist) Jim Roldan.
Others Involved (not sure if Guilty or Innocent): Jude Gondaya, Ped Quajin.
We heard from a reliable source in July 2000 that there was recovered gold for sale in CDO City. I sent Albert Umali there to check out the situation. He arrived and our friend, Jun, met him at his hotel. There they were made to wait until late in the evening (another old trick of Cheaters - make you wait until late at night before finally contacting you) before the so-called Doctor finally called Al to arrange a meeting at some beach resort located out of town.
Once there, the Doctor, started telling Al their rip-off procedure; "In order to see the commodity, the Owner wants you to bring Two Million Pesos to his Safe-House as a deposit first". Well, I happened to phone Al at that exact time and that was all we needed to hear to know that this was a classic potential set-up rip-off procedure! I immediately told Al to, "Walk away NOW and go back to your hotel. Don't even look back. Don't even say, "Good Bye!" Come back to Manila first thing in the morning!"
This was a potential set-up for us to get ripped-off big time but we already know all of their tricks and excuses and what it was leading us up to.
SCAM NO. 9a;
This story is lacking details but it happened to a friend of mines. It was submitted by; Cesar.
Place: CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (North Mindanao).
Cheaters: Names Unknown (Possibly same Syndicate as above group).
Cesar told me the story that he was in CDO a few months back and they were told to bring a sack of Pesos to a hotel room before they could see the commodity. The so-called Sellers later entered the hotel room with a GUN. Needless to say, Cesar and his friend were relieved of their sack of Pesos and any other valuables they had on them.
People - DON'T LISTEN TO ANY OF THEIR EXCUSES - IF THEY DON'T WANT TO DO BUSINESS IN THE BANK - TELL THEM TO GO AND SCREW THEMSELVES CAUSE THEY ARE SETTING YOU UP FOR A ROBBERY!!!
SCAM NO. 10:
This story was submitted by francisco;
Place: Somewhere in the province (not mentioned exactly where).
Cheaters: Old Man, young boy (names unknown).
There's a retired couple from Manila (Phil.) who bought a house and lot in our place. Its been advertised for a long time that its for sale but the local neighborhood can't afford. Inside the lot is an old grown pine tree.
The couple do a lot of renovation and landscaping till comes a time when the wife noticed an old man with a boy staring at the old pine tree. Since they almost see them outside their fence everyday looking at the said tree, the couple asked what they are up to.
The old man through the boy as his interpreter (since he don't know of any language other than his native dialect) told the couple that his 'apong' (grand father) always dreaming of a gold buried inside their lot, and to recover it they have to butcher a native chicken, two eggs and a candle and with prayer of 'apong' they will know where the gold is. The couple agreed, nothing to lose anyway they say. The boy said he will bring his elder brother to do the digging.
So, the following day before sunrise and after all the ceremonies has been done, the elder brother dug the east side of the tree as per instruction of 'apong'. After a waist deep of digging, there you are, a two gold bars with Japanese writing on it. The couple said, since it's two bars 'it would be one for you one for me' and they all agreed.
But wait, the three said they don't know of any body where they can sell their share and one thing more its dangerous for them carrying gold around the city looking for a buyer. So, they ask the couple if they can just buy their share so they can go back to the Province that same day.
Looking promdi (from the province) and innocent the couple think that they can bargain with them at a low price. They offered them ninety thousand pesos they reasoned out that it's the only money they got in the bank. So, they have their healthy breakfast while waiting for the bank to open. In short they got their money and the couple have their gold.
And from the stories of the treasure hunters, scammer and everything, the three were the ones who buried the 'FAKE' gold bars when they know that the place is for sale. No wonder I said, after a few months the house is for sale again.
*********************************************************************************
TRANSACTION TIPS...
ONE VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE HERE FOR ALL POTENTIAL GOLD BUYERS TO REMEMBER IS;
ONLY DO GOLD TRANSACTIONS WITHIN THE SAFETY OF A MAJOR BANK! I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH TO ALL OF YOU POTENTIAL GOLD BUYERS OUT THERE... Believe me.. I learned the HARD WAY. There's nothing like looking down the barrel of a .38 revolver pointed in your face to make you realize what a FOOL YOU HAD BEEN! Don't trust ANY Filippino, American, or whoever tries to ask you to BRING MONEY OUT OF THE BANK! I CAN GUARANTEE YOU THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE SETTING YOU UP TO BE ROBBED! Don't be as STUPID as I was! Trust NO One! NO BANK - NO TRANSACTION! Its as SIMPLE AS THAT! PERIOD!!
GOLD TEST TIPS...
If you need some tips on how to physically test whether the Gold or Platinum Bars someone is trying to sell you are genuine or fake - please download this GOLD BAR FORMULA.XLS file (Click and Save to download to your computer). If you have any problems with this file, send me an email and I can email it to you. Or, view and print the TSEATC Gold / Platinum Formula Page (Click and Save to download to your computer).
There is also an XCEL spreadsheet that can be used for you to Type all the BAR DIMENSIONS in the blanks to automatically calculate Carat Percentage and Prices here.
Remember - One of the most sure ways to test the gold is to physically weight it! The weight of the gold must be correct, otherwise, something is definitely wrong! When in doubt - DON'T PART WITH YOUR HARD EARNED CASH!!!
Also, you can get yourself some NITRIC ACID (be careful as this acid is very strong and dangerous - DO NOT GET IT ON YOUR SKIN and always have some water nearby when you are about to test with it). When you put a few drops of nitric acid on REAL precious metals (gold, platinum, silver, etc.) there should be absolutely NO REACTION. The same as if you have just put WATER on these metals. However, if the nitric acid starts BOILING and BUBBLING and TURNS GREEN - THIS METAL IS FAKE! DON'T BUY IT!
Good luck to you all...
NOTE:... To anyone who is considering or even thinking about buying US Treasure Notes in the Philippines - Please read the following; FAKE US TREASURY NOTES SEIZED; 8 ARRESTED. After reading this, I think it will change your minds. If it doesn't and you are still just "dying" to give some cash away - please just send it to me. I deserve it more than the cheats and con men.... ha..ha..
Attention all Treasure Hunters - If you know anything or have any information regarding these (or any other) cheats - we want to hear from you. Lets put a stop to these scams now! Please e-mail your information to TSEATC.
If you need some tips on how to physically test whether the Gold or Platinum Bars someone is trying to sell you are genuine or fake - please download this GOLD BAR FORMULA.XLS file (Click and Save to download to your computer). If you have any problems with this file, send me an email and I can email it to you. Or, view and print the TSEATC Gold / Platinum Formula Page (Click and Save to download to your computer).
There is also an XCEL spreadsheet that can be used for you to Type all the BAR DIMENSIONS in the blanks to automatically calculate Carat Percentage and Prices here.
Remember - One of the most sure ways to test the gold is to physically weight it! The weight of the gold must be correct, otherwise, something is definitely wrong! When in doubt - DON'T PART WITH YOUR HARD EARNED CASH!!!
Also, you can get yourself some NITRIC ACID (be careful as this acid is very strong and dangerous - DO NOT GET IT ON YOUR SKIN and always have some water nearby when you are about to test with it). When you put a few drops of nitric acid on REAL precious metals (gold, platinum, silver, etc.) there should be absolutely NO REACTION. The same as if you have just put WATER on these metals. However, if the nitric acid starts BOILING and BUBBLING and TURNS GREEN - THIS METAL IS FAKE! DON'T BUY IT!
Good luck to you all...
NOTE:... To anyone who is considering or even thinking about buying US Treasure Notes in the Philippines - Please read the following; FAKE US TREASURY NOTES SEIZED; 8 ARRESTED. After reading this, I think it will change your minds. If it doesn't and you are still just "dying" to give some cash away - please just send it to me. I deserve it more than the cheats and con men.... ha..ha..
Attention all Treasure Hunters - If you know anything or have any information regarding these (or any other) cheats - we want to hear from you. Lets put a stop to these scams now! Please e-mail your information to TSEATC.
Substance / Specific Gravity
Alumina ~ 3.4 - 3.6
Aluminum, cast-hammered 2.55 - 2.80
Antimony 6.68
Baryte / Barite 4.25
Barium 3.62
Barium sulfate 4.5
Bentonite 2.4
Beryllium 1.848
Bismuth 9.79
Boron 2.34
Brass, cast-rolled 8.4 - 8.7
Bronze, aluminum 7.7
Bronze, 7.9 - 14% Sn 7.4 - 8.9
Bronze, phosphor 8.88
Calcium carbonate 2.7
Carbon 2.26
Cement 3.0
Cerium 6.77
Cesium 1.873
Chromium 7.19
Chromium dioxide (Cr203) 5.22
Chromium oxide (Cr02) 4900 kg m-3
Clays 2.6
Coal slag 2.7
Cobalt 8.92
Copper, cast-rolled 8.8 - 8.95
Copper ore, pyrites 4.1 - 4.3
Diamond 2.26
Dolomite 2.9
Dysprosium 8.55
Erbium 9.066
Europium 5.244
Ferrosilicon- 15% 6.7-7.1
Flint stones/ pebbles 2.4 - 2.6
Gadolinium 7.9
Gallium 5.91
Germanium 5.32
German silver 8.58
Glass beads 2.5
Gold, cast-hammered 19.25 - 19.35
Gold coin (U.S.) 17.18 - 17.2
Gold, pure 19.32
Gypsum 2.3
Hafnium 13.31
Hematite, specular 5.4
Holmium 8.795
Ilmenite 4.5- 5.0
Indium 7.31
Iodine 4.93
Iridium 21.78 - 22.65
Iron carbonate 3.9+
Iron, gray cast 7.03 - 7.13
Iron, cast, pig 7.2
Iron, wrought 7.6 - 7.9
Iron, spiegeleisen 7.5
Iron, ferrosilicon 6.7-7.3
Iron ore, hematite 5.2
Iron, ore, limonite 3.6 - 4.0
Iron ore, magnetite 4.9 - 5.2
Iron ore, specular 5.4
Iron slag 2.5 - 3.0
Lanthanum 6.17
Lead 11.34
Lead ore, galena 7.3 - 7.6
Lead oxide (yellow) 9.5 - 9.9
Limestone 2.8
Lithium 0.53
Lutetium 9.84
Magnesium 1.738
Manganese 7.35
Manganese ore, pyrolusite 3.7 - 4.6
Mercury 13.534
Molybdenum 10.22
Monel metal, rolled 8.97
Mullite beads 2.8
Neodymium 7.00
Nickel 8.9
Niobium 8.57
Osmium 22.61
Palladium 12.02
Phosphorus 2.34
Platinum 21.5
Potassium 0.856
Praseodymium 6.77
Quartz sand 7.00
Rhenium 21.02
Rhodium 12.41
Rubidium 1.532
Ruthenium 12.45
Salt 2.2
Samarium 7.52
Sand, silica 2.6
Sand, Quartz 7.0
Scandium 2.989
Selenium 4.28
Sialon 3.26
Silicon 2.33
Silicon carbide 3.1
Silicon nitride 3.2
Silver, pure 10.4 - 10.6
Sodium 0.968
Steatite beads 2.6 - 2.7
Steel, carbon 7.8
Steel, chrome 7.8
Steel, cold-drawn 7.83
Steel, machine 7.80
Steel, 440C stainless 7.7
Steel, tool 7.70 - 7.73
Strontium 2.64
Sulfur 2.07
Tantalum 16.69
Tellurium 6.24
Terbium 8.27
Thallium 11.85
Thulium 9.32
Tin, pure 7.2 - 7.5
Tin ore, cassiterite 6.4 - 7.0
Titanium 4.506
Titanium dioxide, Anatase 3.77
Tin, 100% Pure 7.29
90 Sn & 10 Pb 7.54
63 Sn & 37 Pb 8.42
60 Sn & 40 Pb 8.52
50 Sn & 50 Pb 8.89
10 Sn & 90 Pb 10.50
5 Sn & 95 Pb 11.00
Tungsten 19.25
Tungsten carbide 14.29
Uranium 18.7
Vanadium 6.11
Water, fresh 1.0
Ytterbium 6.97
Yttrium 4.47
Zinc, cast-rolled 6.9 - 7.2
Zinc, ore, blend 3.9-4.2
Zirconia, stabilized (MgO) 5.4
Zirconia, stabilized (REO) 6.1
Zirconia, stabilized (Y203) 6.0
Zirconium 6.506
Zirconium silicate 3.85
Alumina ~ 3.4 - 3.6
Aluminum, cast-hammered 2.55 - 2.80
Antimony 6.68
Baryte / Barite 4.25
Barium 3.62
Barium sulfate 4.5
Bentonite 2.4
Beryllium 1.848
Bismuth 9.79
Boron 2.34
Brass, cast-rolled 8.4 - 8.7
Bronze, aluminum 7.7
Bronze, 7.9 - 14% Sn 7.4 - 8.9
Bronze, phosphor 8.88
Calcium carbonate 2.7
Carbon 2.26
Cement 3.0
Cerium 6.77
Cesium 1.873
Chromium 7.19
Chromium dioxide (Cr203) 5.22
Chromium oxide (Cr02) 4900 kg m-3
Clays 2.6
Coal slag 2.7
Cobalt 8.92
Copper, cast-rolled 8.8 - 8.95
Copper ore, pyrites 4.1 - 4.3
Diamond 2.26
Dolomite 2.9
Dysprosium 8.55
Erbium 9.066
Europium 5.244
Ferrosilicon- 15% 6.7-7.1
Flint stones/ pebbles 2.4 - 2.6
Gadolinium 7.9
Gallium 5.91
Germanium 5.32
German silver 8.58
Glass beads 2.5
Gold, cast-hammered 19.25 - 19.35
Gold coin (U.S.) 17.18 - 17.2
Gold, pure 19.32
Gypsum 2.3
Hafnium 13.31
Hematite, specular 5.4
Holmium 8.795
Ilmenite 4.5- 5.0
Indium 7.31
Iodine 4.93
Iridium 21.78 - 22.65
Iron carbonate 3.9+
Iron, gray cast 7.03 - 7.13
Iron, cast, pig 7.2
Iron, wrought 7.6 - 7.9
Iron, spiegeleisen 7.5
Iron, ferrosilicon 6.7-7.3
Iron ore, hematite 5.2
Iron, ore, limonite 3.6 - 4.0
Iron ore, magnetite 4.9 - 5.2
Iron ore, specular 5.4
Iron slag 2.5 - 3.0
Lanthanum 6.17
Lead 11.34
Lead ore, galena 7.3 - 7.6
Lead oxide (yellow) 9.5 - 9.9
Limestone 2.8
Lithium 0.53
Lutetium 9.84
Magnesium 1.738
Manganese 7.35
Manganese ore, pyrolusite 3.7 - 4.6
Mercury 13.534
Molybdenum 10.22
Monel metal, rolled 8.97
Mullite beads 2.8
Neodymium 7.00
Nickel 8.9
Niobium 8.57
Osmium 22.61
Palladium 12.02
Phosphorus 2.34
Platinum 21.5
Potassium 0.856
Praseodymium 6.77
Quartz sand 7.00
Rhenium 21.02
Rhodium 12.41
Rubidium 1.532
Ruthenium 12.45
Salt 2.2
Samarium 7.52
Sand, silica 2.6
Sand, Quartz 7.0
Scandium 2.989
Selenium 4.28
Sialon 3.26
Silicon 2.33
Silicon carbide 3.1
Silicon nitride 3.2
Silver, pure 10.4 - 10.6
Sodium 0.968
Steatite beads 2.6 - 2.7
Steel, carbon 7.8
Steel, chrome 7.8
Steel, cold-drawn 7.83
Steel, machine 7.80
Steel, 440C stainless 7.7
Steel, tool 7.70 - 7.73
Strontium 2.64
Sulfur 2.07
Tantalum 16.69
Tellurium 6.24
Terbium 8.27
Thallium 11.85
Thulium 9.32
Tin, pure 7.2 - 7.5
Tin ore, cassiterite 6.4 - 7.0
Titanium 4.506
Titanium dioxide, Anatase 3.77
Tin, 100% Pure 7.29
90 Sn & 10 Pb 7.54
63 Sn & 37 Pb 8.42
60 Sn & 40 Pb 8.52
50 Sn & 50 Pb 8.89
10 Sn & 90 Pb 10.50
5 Sn & 95 Pb 11.00
Tungsten 19.25
Tungsten carbide 14.29
Uranium 18.7
Vanadium 6.11
Water, fresh 1.0
Ytterbium 6.97
Yttrium 4.47
Zinc, cast-rolled 6.9 - 7.2
Zinc, ore, blend 3.9-4.2
Zirconia, stabilized (MgO) 5.4
Zirconia, stabilized (REO) 6.1
Zirconia, stabilized (Y203) 6.0
Zirconium 6.506
Zirconium silicate 3.85
Specific Gravity Table For Ceramics, Metals & Minerals