Phone scam persists: ‘Hello, this is Mayor Binay’

MAKATI CITY, Philippines – Beware of this fund-raising “Binay.”

The Makati City government on Saturday renewed warnings against an impostor claiming to be Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr. who had been calling residents and business owners to solicit donations for needy children or calamity victims.

“I urge the public to be vigilant and immediately alert the authorities if they receive such a call from someone pretending to be me.  I am counting on your cooperation and support to bring the perpetrator and his cohorts to justice,” Binay said in a statement.

First reported to the mayor’s office last month, the scam involved a male caller introducing himself as the mayor and giving a bank account name and number where donations could supposedly be deposited.

The real Binay reiterated that neither he nor his office had authorized any person or organization to use his name to solicit such donations.

A businesswoman from Barangay Rizal in Makati earlier told police that a male caller claiming to be Binay asked her to send donations through Metrobank savings account number 260-345-517, under the name of Roberto Mercadal.  When she offered to personally hand over the money at city hall, the caller claimed he was in Tagaytay Highlands at that time.

The account was later found to be a payroll account, but the concerned bank manager declined to give further details to authorities, invoking the bank secrecy law.

In another case reported to the police, a similar caller gave an account under the name of Jonathan Delgado.  Jaymee T. Gamil