Where to report scammers in the Philippines

Don't be duped by scammers who reside or operate in the Philippines! Report them to the authorities and send them to jail!

The Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has repeatedly warned the public against falling for "get-rich-quick" scams. In its site (www.sec.gov.ph), the SEC reported that more and more boiler-room operations have recently emerged, targeting potential investors who want to earn high return on their money.

According to the SEC, if any person or persons approached or contacted you via email, phone, or any other means and offered you a ridiculously high return on your "investment" after a short period of time, protect yourself by asking for the following information first.

1. Name of the person and the company making the offer; 
2. Address of the person and the company;
3. Landline numbers of the person and the company (mobile phone numbers are difficult to trace); and
4. SEC registration of the company stating they are eligible to take investments

If the person refused to give those information, better not to continue dealing with them. There's a high chance the company and the investment program are a fraud.

Some additional things to remember:

• Investment houses and financing companies with quasi-banking (QB) license and with SEC registered securities are the only ones allowed to offer investment instruments to more than 19 investors;
• Only SEC registered persons (brokers/dealers/salesmen) may offer or sell registered securities to the public;
• SEC company registration in itself DOES NOT automatically grant authority to sell investment instruments such as securities, bonds, commercial papers, etc. Here is a list of companies authorized by the SEC to accept investments from the public;
• Don't fall for people who give you promissory notes or post-dated checks as proof of your interest earnings. Those might be fake or contain insufficient funds. Scammers use this trick to show that they are supposedly genuine and paying.

If you encountered these people, report them to the:

SEC – Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Department (SEC-CED) at Phone No. (632)724-7650 or (632)727-2267 or the National Bureau of Investigation or the local police

The image below summarizes what the SEC wants you to do if you are faced in such a situation.

Don't let scammers scam you. Protect yourself and know what to do.