Online Lover Scams OFW in Saudi with P1.5M
A former overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Saudi Arabia is paying for the price after he was scammed by a 62-year-old chatmate.
Hector Bagul-Bagul worked in an oil company in Saudi Arabia for more than a decade, however, due to longing for his family in the Philippines, he resorted to chatting with strangers.
It was in 2016 when he met “Rhea Isabelle Go” online who introduced herself as an only child of a Chinese family that resides in the United States. She also told Hector that they have a business in the Philippines and that she is a model.
The friendship between the two started with conversations ranging from work to their personal lives.
“Honest po ako talaga in a way na kuhang-kuha nya yung loob ko. Pangalan ng anak ko naibigay ko, pangalan ng misis ko naibigay ko. As in talagang kinukwento ko kung anong talambuhay ko,” Hector told GMA News.
One day, Rhea asked for his help after she hit and killed an old man while she was driving. The woman told Hector that the family of the deceased was asking a huge amount of money from her.
Hector loaned 3500 SAR or around P45,000 from an Indian national and immediately sent it to Rhea.
Rhea then told Hector that her mother was planning to have them married soon and that her family would hire Hector to work for their family business.
From one reason to another, Rhea asked Hector to send money to the Philippines. At one point, Hector had sent more than P800,000 to Rhea. The money that he lent her ballooned to P1.5M due to interests.
Hector only realized that something strange was going on three months later after discovering that Rhea was also seducing his brother.
Aside from his financial issues, he had problems with his work which caused him to think of committing suicide.
“Dun ko lang naramdaman yung ganun. Yung, you have no one to turn to na ang talagang next step mo na lang is magpakamatay ka na lang para matapos na lat ng iniisip mong problema kasi hindi mababayaran ng pera yung sakit ng kalooban na naranasan ko sa abroad,” Hector said.
Through a help of a friend, he told his wife the truth and went home in 2016.
“Hindi dahil sa may anak kami oh ano, hanggang sa pagtanda namin, kaming dalawa pa rin,” Hector’s wife said.
Hector’s wife did her own investigation on Rhea who is apparently a 62-year-old Filipina woman.
As per Hector and his wife, they were already decided to file charges, however, the woman did not show up in any of the three barangay hearings.
Instead, the woman plead to pay for the money that she got from Hector. As of now, more than P430,000 has been returned to Hector.
Rhea can be charged for estafa and violating the Anti-Cybercrime Law.
(Source: FilipinoTimes.net)