MANILA, Philippines – I was scammed once. It wasn’t anything serious, but it makes for an amusing story to tell.

My friend’s birthday was coming up, and she had talked about a funny (and official!) photocard of her K-pop bias at the time. As all K-pop stans know, funny photocards are rare, hard to find, and most of all, expensive.

After scouring K-pop buy-and-sell Facebook groups for weeks, I finally found the exact photocard she wanted, and it was reasonably priced. This is it, I thought, this is my chance. I quickly messaged the seller, asked for her preferred mode of payment, and promptly sent her the money.

A few days had passed and the seller messaged me again, and she told me she could no longer send the photocard. Shortly after that, she deactivated her Facebook account, and I had no way of contacting her. What was that?

To my surprise, other members of a K-pop buy-and-sell group said they were scammed by the same seller, too. One girl had posted the seller’s profile, and several users in the comments confirmed that they had the same experience.

Now that technology is integrated in almost every aspect of our lives, there are new ways for scammers to deceive people online through new apps and platforms. This can hurt a variety of brands mentioned in scam-related conversations, making them vulnerable to potential crises or even disinformation.

It’s critical for brands to stay abreast of these conversations, and to be aware of how their products or services might be exploited by scammers. If brands fail to address these crises head-on, these conversations could greatly damage or tarnish their reputation.

To get a better understanding of how specific brands and industries are impacted by common scams in the Philippines, The Nerve looked into public Facebook posts on scams from the past six months, shared between November 21, 2024 and May 22, 2025.

Here’s what we found.

Fintech, banking, e-commerce brands hit hardest

When we zoomed into the brands mentioned in these discussions, fintech companies and banks were consistently brought up in posts on various kinds of scams. After all, scammers are usually looking for money, and digital apps make financial transactions easier. When I got scammed, I sent my payment through one of these apps, too.

E-commerce brands were also often mentioned, as Facebook users mainly discussed scams in the context of online shopping. In fact, e-commerce posts took up 41% of the entire Facebook discussion on scams.

Posts mentioning e-commerce and fintech brands usually came from online sellers who gave advice to customers on how to avoid scams.

For instance, sellers reminded customers to only transact with their official online stores. Other sellers shared the account names and numbers for their modes of payment, so customers know where to send their money. Some sellers even told customers they could inspect products in person to make sure they were getting the real deal.

Telecommunication companies were also mentioned in a number of discussions, particularly those related to phishing and spoofing. These scams have become increasingly prevalent in the past few years, as I’m sure most (if not all) of us have received suspicious text messages with sketchy links in them.

It used to be easy to spot text messages from scammers, who were usually operating from unknown phone numbers. In fact, SIM card registration aimed to curb phone-related scams in the Philippines.

But scammers have found more sophisticated ways to deceive unsuspecting Filipinos. Some scammers have used telcos’ official sender IDs to send “malicious messages,” making it harder for Filipinos to decipher whether or not a text message is legitimate. Brands and organizations needed to explicitly disown scam messages by posting advisories on social media.

Impersonation, love scams emerge as potential areas of concern

After posts on e-commerce, impersonations emerged as the second most-discussed topic, taking up 23% of the Facebook discussion. Sellers, brands, and other figures would warn their audiences about impersonators pretending to sell their products or offer their services. 

When my friends and I sold fan-made merchandise on an e-commerce platform, we once spotted another seller who reuploaded our promos and mimicked our product listings. We reported the impersonator on the platform and posted advisories on our social media accounts. On Facebook, other sellers and users did the same.

While government agencies and e-commerce platforms have enforced policies that aim to make online shopping safer, impersonators can still target Filipinos on other platforms. For instance, Filipinos warned against scammers hiding behind Facebook accounts and pages pretending to represent them (even if the platform prohibits impersonators).

Another hot topic on Facebook focused on different love scams, which triggered surges in posts on the platform. A love scam is a crime where scammers typically create online profiles to develop relationships with victims, and then extort money from them.

Earlier in January, several copy-pasted posts featured an elderly woman victimized by a scammer who pretended to be a foreigner and asked for large sums of money via a fintech app. Two months later, a story about a bride who supposedly scammed her groom and wedding organizers went viral in March.

Some brands have their own social media campaigns that warn users about how scammers might be misusing their platforms or products. However, it’s also important for them to actively monitor online conversations to protect their reputations. Brands can do this with the help of The Nerve’s data forensics solutions.

There are ways brands, sellers, and organizations can learn from incidents like these. The Nerve will be publishing a free report on how brands can respond to crises and disinformation, and brands can also participate in our upcoming Decoded Masterclass for a more immersive learning experience.

Not all hope is lost for buyers, too. I talked to one of the girls who got scammed by the same seller, and we both managed to get in touch with the seller’s aunt. Her aunt apologized profusely and refunded us later on. I eventually got to buy the funny photocard for my friend, too (for real this time, and from a reputable seller).

Getting scammed is never a pleasant experience. But with the right resources, safeguards, and communities, navigating scams can be a little less difficult. – Rappler.com

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Data and visualization by Keith Yadao.

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This story was originally published on Rappler on June 4, 2025. It was made in collaboration with The Nerve, a data forensics company that enables changemakers to navigate real-world trends and issues through narrative and network investigations. Taking the best of human and machine, we enable partners to unlock powerful insights that shape informed decisions. Composed of a team of data scientists, strategists, award-winning storytellers, and designers, the company is on a mission to deliver data with real-world impact.