MANILA, Philippines?Scam artists do not only succeed with people who are uneducated, naïve and gullible. Here is a story that I hope will help readers avoid being victimized.

A newspaper columnist, who was trying to sell a property she has had for years but did not really know what to do with, decided to place an advertisement in the classified ads section of a major newspaper.

She got a response on the same day the ad appeared. Though the ad said direct buyers only, she said, ?A certain Rey called me up [about the property] in Forest Hills, Antipolo? He said he was a real-estate agent who specialized in Forest Hills properties? After looking around some six other properties in the area, he said his client, a balikbayan ?doctor,? liked [my property] so much that he wanted to buy it immediately before he left for Australia.

?He told me to give him [copies of relevant documents including a so-called] ?relocation survey.? I told him to meet me the next day...?

She said the ?agent? called her the next day and asked about the documents he needed.

?I told him I didn?t know what a ?relocation survey? was.? The guy said he knew the engineers at Forest Hills Subdivision and could do it immediately at half the price of P7,000.

?When I argued that I wouldn?t do it, he said his client insisted to have the ?relocation survey? because of an earlier problem they encountered. The doctor, he said, already bought and ?paid? for a similar lot? and was gypped when the said lot ?overlapped? with the one next to it.

For the boys

?He told me to prepare P3,500 because a location map would be included.

When I told him I already had a location map, he said I should just send the whole amount as he would just deduct it from his ?commission? when the client paid. He insisted the P3,500 was ?for the boys.? He asked me not to tell the Forest Hills administration because the boys? were doing this ?on the side.??

The property owner called the engineer of Forest Hills to ask what a relocation survey was. ?He asked if I were building a house, and when I said I was just selling the lot, he told me to just give the buyers a location map,? she said.

When the seller saw Rey?s messenger, she gave him the documents and P2,500 in cash (instead of P3,500) and gave him the location map she already had.

The agent called later and told her the buyer would meet me in the bank of her choice to pay in cash for the property. He said the location map I sent was all wrong so he would have to have a new one made.

Next morning, the agent called again and told her the ?boys? at the Forest Hills engineering were doing the relocation survey and he needed the P1,000 she failed to give earlier. He said the ?relocation survey? would not be released without it.

The next time ?Rey? called, he told her some adjustments had to be made on what she gave. He said he knew someone at the Antipolo assessor?s office who could make the changes but it would cost an additional P2,500. He said he would collect the money personally so work could be completed before she met with the buyer.

More money

She met the ?agent? and the messenger he sent earlier. ?He (Rey) looked dirty and disheveled. He apologized for his appearance saying he and ?John? were clearing the cogon grass in my lot and didn?t have time to clean up? I gave them the P1,000 ?for the boys? and the additional P2,500 for the assessor?s office.? She gave them P500 and told them to have breakfast at a fast-food restaurant. ?I gave an additional P500 when Rey started complaining how they got so wet during a sudden downpour the day before [as they did] the ?relocation survey.?

Rey also said he was paying someone to stand in line at the assessor?s office as he collected the money. Saying he would accompany the buyer afterward, he reset the appointment from 1 p.m. to
2 p.m. so he could include the assessor?s corrections.

?He told me to wait for his phone call before 2 p.m. At 1 p.m., while getting ready to go to the bank, I decided to text him in his two cell phones... No answer. I then called his cell phones simultaneously through my landline and cell. They just rang and rang. When I began to hear the recording ?the number you?re calling is either turned off or not in coverage area,? I started to break up in cold sweat. My calls and texts went on the whole afternoon?to no avail.

?In my single-focused obsession in selling my property, I didn?t want to seem like a tightwad? I should have asked for credentials. I should have insisted in meeting him in his office. Most importantly, I should not have given him a single centavo? no matter how much he sweet-talked me or how little the [amount] seemed.

?Hindsight is truly 20/20.?

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