Jose Palma —JUNJIE MENDOZA
CEBU CITY – An online scammer traced to Africa was able to take at least US$3,900 (P199,000) of supposed donation using the name of Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, a Church official said.
In a written statement on Monday, October 21, Palma reiterated his disclaimer saying he has not asked for solicitations.
“I do not ask and never solicit funds from different institutions/groups, nor does my staff without my prior knowledge, formal consent, and definite authorization,” the prelate said.
Palma asked everyone to report such email to the Archbishop’s Palace in Cebu City through phone numbers (032)2533382 and (032)2540951.
The fraudster pretended to be Palma using a hoax email asking for donations or help saying that the archbishop is in Europe and in distress.
“Please continue to inform the public not to give money to anyone claiming to solicit funds for Archbishop Palma for whatever purpose. Just yesterday a friend of Archbishop Palma admitted giving 3,900 dollars to the culprit,” said Msgr. Joseph Tan, spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Cebu.
“The IP address was last traced to Nigeria,” he added.
The email jspcebu@outlook.com was earlier reported for soliciting money in behalf of Palma.
The Archdiocese of Cebu has already made an announcement last October 11 to dismiss these solicitation requests as the Church secretariat does not have such an email account.
The modus of the scammer was to ask for emergency funds amounting to at least P70,000, saying the archbishop is in need of financial help while traveling to Ukraine.