By Daisy CL Mandap
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| The man in the photo, who introduced himself as Dennise Robert Philips, took her money, says Sol |
The slick-tongued man could not have found an easier prey
than the 31-year-old Filipina domestic worker who is religious, generous and
most importantly, has a stash of hard-earned money at her disposal.
Within just a few days, Sol D., a native of Davao and a single mother
of a young boy, lost $10,000 of her savings to the man whom she met on Encore, a dating site for single parents, who introduced himself as “Dennise Robert Philips.”
Having lost more than two months’ salary did not leave Sol
feeling as bad as the realization that the man with whom she exchanged Biblical
passages had tricked her into transferring money into his bitcoin account, then
disappeared.
“Kristiyano ako,
Kristiyano sya at nangangailangan, bakit hindi ko siya tutulungan?” said a
still-bewildered Sol. (I am Christian, he is a Christian who needed help, why
should I not help him?)
Sol said she started chatting with “Dennise” in the first
week of October and from the first go, they clicked. The man said he was an
American businessman who had been a Hong Kong
resident for five years.
The man endeared himself to Sol by his frequent references
to God, and his apparent devotion to his eight-year-old daughter “who means to
world to me.” He said he was divorced six years ago and had full custody of his
daughter.
“I need to give my daughter the perfect attention, and she’s
super excited to come in (sic) Hong Kong,”
said one of the man’s messages to Sol.
The Filipina was flattered by the attention, and reassured
by her video chats with the man who looked exactly as he was in the pictures he
posted and sounded very kind. In their chats on messenger the man said he lived
in Tin Hau, and was just in the United States
to pick up her daughter so they could live together in Hong
Kong.
To boost her confidence, the man sent Sol a copy of his
supposed HKID card bearing the name he gave, his date of birth showing him to
have turned 41 on Oct 19.
What Sol missed was that the HKID card showed the bearer to
be a permanent resident, which belied the man’s claim that he had been in Hong Kong for just five years, or two years short of the
requirement for permanent residency.
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| The HKID card shown to Sol belongs to a permanent HK resident of Chinese nationality |
Further, the HKID card bore the three stars that denote
Chinese citizenship, and the issue date as May 2017, which also did not match
his story.
But the big lie came a few days later, or on Oct 9, when the
man started sending frantic messages to Sol to ask for money. His story was
that he needed to pay for a “letter of introduction” for his daughter,
Stephanie, as he supposedly lost the document, and showed a badly written
letter purportedly from the New York Police as proof.
He asked Sol to contact a certain Mr Chen at HK Immigration
to help him borrow money for the $4,500 needed in lieu of the lost document.
The Chen guy supposedly agreed after Sol intervened.
But after thanking the Filipina and calling her “my wife,”
the guy had an even sorrier tale to tell. This time, his story was that he was
stuck in his hotel room in the US
prior to taking a flight to Hong Kong, and was
in trouble because he did not have money with him as he had left all his cards
at home.
When Sol resisted, the man said the hotel manager had taken
out his and daughter’s bags from their hotel room and was threatening to call
the police.
Taking pity, Sol, who had exactly $10,000 with her, intending
to send it to her family back home, agreed to help. She was directed to go to a
bitcoin ATM in Tsuen Wan where she lives and transfer the money there using a
QR code she was given.
After she transferred the money, the
man profusely thanked her, then said he and his daughter were leaving the next
day, so he would be out of touch.
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| The bitcoin ATM shows the $10k was deposited into the account of the QR holder |
On Oct 13, the man sent a message again, saying he and his
daughter were stuck at Hong Kong airport
because he didn’t have a “permission of entry” which he needed to pay for.
He asked Sol to contact “Mr Chen” again. In reply to Sol,
the second guy said, “Haya. Permission of entry new policy. He needs to apply
for permission, la. Without that can’t get to Hong Kong,
la.”
“Dennise” upped the pressure by asking Sol for money again,
saying he was in a bind because he could not access his money.
“I tried to call my bank but they said to me that I need to
be inside Hong Kong before I get money (sic),”
he said in a message. “I cannot sleep. My body and my back is pain.”
When Sol said she did not have any money anymore, he
suggested that she borrow from a lending company. This angered Sol, who told
him she has never taken out a loan in her entire life.
When he insisted, Sol told the man she consulted her friends
and was advised to stay away from him as he was a scammer.
The man reportedly got very mad, asking why Sol had to tell
her friends about his money problems. But he alternated this with attempt to woo
her again with words like “I want you to be my wife.”
But Sol was adamant, saying he was a scammer and a liar who
used the name of God to take money away from her. In her final message, Sol
told him he had until Oct 24 to give back her money, as her family in the Philippines
needed it badly.
He never responded to her text messages or calls again.
Sol now plans to go the Hong Kong Police and the Consulate
to seek help. Although her main concern is to get back her money, she also wants her
story to serve as a warning to fellow Filipinas to be wary of Bible-spouting
online lovers.
