Interior designer who failed to pay for online purchases nabbed

MANILA — Policemen last week nabbed an interior designer at her home for her failure to pay for purchases on the Internet in an increasing incidence of online scams, officials said Sunday.

Agents of the national police’s Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) arrested Dianne Austria, 26, inside her house in Pandacan, Manila, following a complaint from businesswoman Mary Hanezel Koh.

Koh sells designer clothes and other accessories for women on the Internet.

Koh complained that while Austria posted deposit slips on Facebook as proof of her payment, the money was not credited to her account.

The ACG mounted an entrapment operation for Austria at her house on Wednesday last week.

Austria was arrested after signing a delivery receipt and showing her passport as proof of her identity to an undercover policeman who delivered Koh’s products to her.

Austria faces charges of 14 counts of swindling..

Investigators did not mention how much Austria owed Koh at the time of her arrest. The two had been doing business since December 2015, eventually becoming friends.

The incident was one of 178 online scam cases reported to the ACG this year, making it the top Internet-based fraud in the country, according to Senior Supt. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar, ACG director.

This should serve as a warning to the public that online deals come with risks, Eleazar said.

Eleazar said that the exchange of money and products must be made in person to ensure the legitimacy of the transaction. Usual victims of such scams are senior citizens, housewives, young students and even professionals.

“There is always the possibility of fraud when you are giving and receiving the products without knowing or seeing the person,” he said, adding that Netizens should be cautious in dealing with people they only know through the Internet.

Common online scams includes telemarketing fraud, identity theft, advance fee schemes, investment-related scams like the so-called Ponzi Scheme and pyramiding schemes, credit card fraud and non-delivery of merchandise.  SFM