SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews / 4 January) — Officials in Tandag City in Surigao del Sur have warned residents of conmen who are using their names to get huge loads for mobile phones.
The warning came after a conman managed to get prepaid loads on Tuesday and Wednesday by using the name of Tandag City Mayor Alexander T. Pimentel.
Pimentel told MindaNews on Thursday morning that the conman pretending to be him called a retired government employee named Dominador Monicit and asked him to load several phone numbers.
A police report said Monicit went to RC Cellular on Tuesday to load the phone numbers given by the caller.
The conman got 24,000 worth of load, Pimentel said.
The mayor said he has no prepaid phone numbers and all his accounts are postpaid.
He added that Tandag City councilor Denis Tan name was also used by these conmen who got a load of 13,000 pesos from several loading stores.
Police Chief Inspector Armando A. Martizano, chief of police of Tandag City said they are now conducting a thorough probe on the scheme.
“We invited Monicit for questioning and we initially found out that he was victimized by the conmen,” Martizano said.
“We are asking for anyone who might have known to come forward so we can catch these despicable conmen who stole cellphone loads,” he said.
He advised residents to be wary of callers who claim to be local officials.
“If anyone has any information about the suspects please call Tandag Police,” he said. (Roel N. Catoto/MindaNews)