Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III on Sunday (Dec. 19) assailed anew the people behind the devious use of a fake Facebook account for their personal gain and tends to put his name in disrepute.
For months, unscrupulous elements have been using a bogus FB name ‘Silvestre H. Bello III’ to dupe unsuspecting victims, but the labor chief said the long arm of the law will soon catch up with them.
Bello said the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is zeroing in on several suspects and could soon provide identification of the scammers.
“Our law enforcers are doing a great job. Arrests can be made earlier than expected,” Bello said.
He said it is lamentable that these individuals continue to prey on friends, acquaintances, and ordinary netizens.
“We renew our warning to those behind this nefarious scheme of soliciting gifts, in cash and in kind, that the long arm of the law will eventually catch up on them. Stop now and spare friends, acquaintances and ordinary netizens from your evil designs,” Bello added.
First, the scammers solicited assistance through the fake FB account purportedly for the labor chief’s community pantry. The pantry and donations from people and organizations were supposedly meant to boost his supposed senatorial bid. Then, the scammers proceeded to announce that Bello was distributing tons of rice as assistance, only that the recipients needed to shoulder the cost of shipping.
In all the schemes, the would-be victims were asked to deposit on certain bank accounts. Several Bello’s friends obliged, forking out negligible amounts to substantial sums.
“Given that this has become deliberate, the scam is seemingly intended to also damage my reputation,” Bello said.
“For the nth time, the public is advised that I don’t maintain an account in Facebook by the name “SILVESTRE H. BELLO III. This is fake!” he said.
He said the public is further advised to just totally ignore the phony social media account. (DOLE) – bny
