Police
authority are advised individual to be extra alert when they were in public
places such, shopping centers or malls, restaurants other recreational area.
The
National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has come up the lists of top 10
modus operandi of common crimes. Here’s the detail.
1. Sneaky
Office Intruders
The
modus operandi of the group is posing like an employee’s friend, visitors, or
messenger with complete visitor’s ID.
According
to NCRPO websites the thieves strike on the workplace with little security or
no security, usually during lunch time or the afternoon break when employees
left their office table.
Taking
advantage of offices downtime, these intruders sneakily work their way. They
target valuables items like mobile phone, laptops, cash or credit cards.
Security
Tips: Bring your valuables items in a small bag wherever you go, if in case you
have no tight security measures in place.
Deposit your valuables in a secured
and locked drawer before leaving the workplace.
Just
in case the intruder has already hit your workplace, call the security guard
attention directly and report the incident. And file appropriate charges if the
security guards caught him or her.
2. ATM
(Automated Teller Machine) Scams
The
modus operandi of these scammers is targeting ATM terminals with dark spot and
not lighted well. To
learn more about their modus operandi and how to avoid these scammers ClickHere!
3. The
Zesto Gang
Usually
this group use 2 to 3 members and their modus operandi is to scam the bus
passengers through swift tactics of distraction, confusion, intimidation and
harassment.
A
Zesto Gang member comes up into the bus, with bills of cash folded lengthwise
and wound around the fingers by denomination in typical bus conductor style,
and nonchalantly asks, "Ilan?" ("How many?") Thinking he or
she is the bus conductor, you say how many people you’d like to pay the fares
of, not knowing that the scammer is supposedly actually asking how many juice
packs you’d like to buy.
After getting your money, the gang member magically
produces juice packs from out of nowhere, swiftly pokes straws in them and
shoves them in front of you.
And even if you doth protest to say, "But I
thought..." or "That’s not what I...," you will curtly be told,
too late, "Naitusok ko na eh," meaning they can no longer be sold,
thanks to your (purported) hearing deficiency, and so rather than make a fuss
or argue, you just sip in meek silence.
Even more appalling? Scammers jack up
the price of the juice pack to as much as ten times the actual price.
Prevention
Tips: You may possibly try pretending sleep when you see these scammers
especially they have a mysterious pail or bag of juice packs!
4. Airport
Ambush
The
modus operandi of these criminals they trail you from the airport and
repeatedly attack your car until you are forced to give it up. Based on the
reported incidents this year, this scheme is usually executed before dawn.
Carnapping suspects are believed to pick
victims among passengers seen at the airport terminal before dawn, according to
Inquirer.net. Once their chosen passengers are on the road, they repeatedly
bump the rear portion of their victims’ vehicle, forcing them to stop.
If they
don’t, the carnappers speed up to the front of the victims’ vehicle and cut off
their way. The carnappers don’t pick a particularly secluded area probably
because the pre-dawn darkness gives them privacy.
Preventions
Tips: It is wise to plan carefully about your flight schedule. And when you are
in the vehicles don’t forget to lock the doors all the time. Try to avoid
isolated and dark roads.
5. Test
Drive Threat
The
Carnappers pose as buyers who will test drive the car you’re selling--and later
steal it at gunpoint. Plan of attack: Faux buyers respond to your "car for
sale" ad and ask for a test drive. So, of course, you accompany them.
Later, they drive the car to a secluded area where they force you out at
gunpoint. Talk about seller’s remorse.
Prevention
Tips: To avoid this carnapping trap, it’s best to let a seasoned used car
dealer handle the sale, says Top Gear associate features editor Dinzo Tabamo.
If you want to sell the vehicle yourself, Tabamo suggests you dictate the test
driving route and bring along one or two companions. If the "buyers"
balk at this, then you should refuse to let them take your car for a ride.
We
also suggest discreetly taking photos of all potential buyers before you go on
a test drive. This way, if they turn out to be thieves, you’d have something
the police could use to hunt them down.
6. Condo
Criminals
The
modus operandi of this criminal syndicate is to invades units that are left
unlocked or simply break into random units. Once inside, they ransack the place
for valuables. To top it all off, some thieves also vandalize the units they
invade.
Prevention
Tips: Lock the door even when you’re inside the condo unit. Add a chain lock
(this one, if you dare). Ask the landlord to beef up the security or at least
make sure the guards aren’t sleeping on the job.
7. Backstage
Burglars
Their
modus operandi, during a show or event, crooks sneak into the area behind the
stage or inside the dressing rooms, where the commotion provides great cover
for their criminal activities.
Thieves
can easily pose as aides, assistants, yayas or utility personnel and blend in
with the crowd. They can pick up, say, a laptop, a wallet, or a designer bag
and quickly run, or even casually and nonchalantly walk off with it without
anyone knowing or minding.
Prevention
Tips: If you’re part of a show, event or function, designate someone to watch
over your belongings at all times or designate a locked room or office as a
holding room for your belongings. Notify the authorities if you notice any
suspicious-looking people sneaking around, although thieves do have a knack for
blending in.
8. Salisi
Gang
Gang
members lurk anywhere where there are people--malls, restaurants, fastfood
joints, computer shops, bars, and clubs--and are just waiting for you to get
distracted.
Even
the most tony hangouts of the elite are not exempt from these chameleons who
have mastered the art of blending in and the art of distraction.
Prevention
Tips: Constant vigilance! Keep your bag on your lap (not behind you on your
seat) and be cautious about leaving it on another chair, and keep an eye on it
at all times. Bring a bag hook so your bag is kept under the table.
Don’t
casually leave your cellphone, laptop or camera on the table where it can
easily be grabbed in a split-second. Take precautions especially when out at
night.
Thieves
are only too happy to see inebriated women in clubs dancing with wild abandon,
unmindful of their evening bags, phones and cameras exposed on cocktail tables,
ready for the taking. Wear a wrist-strap clutch instead and keep all your
belongings in it.
9. Dugo-Dugo
Gang
Their
modus operandi is to rob affluent homes by tricking unsuspecting house helpers
into helping them get to the homeowners’ cash and valuables stash.
Do
you remember the PLDT caller I.D. commercial? That’s basically how the
Dugo-Dugo Gang operates. After casing a household, the gang members wait for
the opportune moment when only the helper is in the house.
The
scammers call and pretend that a family member has been hurt and needs money
for a surgery or medical procedure of some sort. Then they pressure the helper
into forcing open the family safe, locked drawers, and the like to get cash and
other valuables. The helper is then told to turn over the loot to the gang
members.
Prevention
Tips: Tell helpers and everyone in the house about this scam. To find out if
they actually remembered what you said, pretend to be a Dugo-Dugo Gang member
and make them go through a drill. Take it a step further by rewarding those
that keep their wits about them.
10. Budol-Budol
Gang
The
Budol-Budol Gang can strike anywhere using their alleged powers of hypnotism
and "boodle" or counterfeit money--hence the name--that turn out to
be just sheets of paper. Interestingly, Google Translate says "budol"
means "gullible person."
Their
modus operandi may have evolved over the years but here’s their basic tactic:
They lure or blackmail their victims into giving them valuables or cash in
exchange for a bag filled with fake bills or products.
In
one reported instance in 2008, two suspected Budol-Budol Gang members managed
to get a cellphone, a Walkman, and P2,000 from an unidentified 16-year-old girl
in Cebu.
The
male and female suspects claimed they were looking for a vehicle to transport
their things. Before they went to search for a vehicle, they asked the girl to
hold on to a bag supposedly filled with money.
In
return, they got the girl to give them her valuables as a sort of safety
deposit. It wasn’t long before the girl discovered the bag contained only fake
bills.
In
2005, a victim identified only as Marie claimed some Budol-Budol Gang members
hypnotized her into giving them her money, jewelry, and mobile phones.
She
said she did not remember much after a man allegedly engaged her in small talk
while she was walking along Ortigas Avenue.
All
she could recall was getting inside a certain van, drinking a glass of water,
and handing over two years’ worth of savings of her seaman husband. All that in
exchange for a black bag stuffed with sheets of paper.
Prevention
Tips: First of all, bear in mind one of the first things everyone learns as a
kid: Don’t talk to strangers.
Of
course, that can’t be helped sometimes so remember another basic rule: Don’t
accept candy from strangers.
In
this case, if strangers are giving you something as "sweet" as a
bagful of cash, you better refuse. If you’re afraid of being hypnotized, find
out how the controversial phenomenon supposedly works to avoid succumbing to
it.
Labels: Security Guard News
