‘If it’s too good to be true, it’s not true’

THE Regional Anti-Cybercrime Office (RACO) warned the public about falling prey to online scams.

“If it’s too good to be true, it’s not true,” said Chief Insp. Leo Dofiles, head of the RACO.

Last Saturday, immigration officers arrested 24-year-old Briton Jason Ainsworth who stands accused of selling non-existent goods on Facebook and Ebay.

He and his brother Jared Williams became fugitives after fleeing to the Philippines in September 2015, shortly after they were released on bail by a British court.

Ainsworth was brought to Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City after he had been detained at the Bureau of Immigration detention facility while undergoing deportation proceedings.

Williams remains at large.

The Ainsworth brothers are allegedly involved in large-scale internet fraud and money laundering activities in the United Kingdom.

Dofiles said they have not received any complaints from possible victims of the brothers.

“If we get one, we will coordinate with the (British) embassy and the police attache,” he said.

“Those double-your-money schemes and cheap stuff sold online? Don’t believe them,” Dofiles said.

He advised victims of online scams to visit the RACO office so that authorities can go after the perpetrators.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, in a statement, said Ainsworth and Williams continued to profit from their online racket while in the Philippines as their victims’ money were laundered to them via money transfers by their cohorts in the UK.

The UK National Crime Agency, he said, asked the help of the Philippine government to arrest the brothers upon learning that they were hiding in the country.

Bobby Raquepo, BI chief of the Fugitive Search Unit (FSU), said the brothers may have already pocketed £400,000 or more than P28 million at an exchange rate of P70 to one pound, by selling non-existent goods on social media.