Budol-budol swindlers take off with 100K from store keeper

Two suspects deceived a mini grocery owner after allegedly selling P100,000 worth of grocery items, which turned out to be empty boxes and random items.

A "24 Oras" report by Emil Sumangil quoted the victim Aling Mely (not her real name), who said she fell victim to "budol budol" after the suspects offered her "cheaper" grocery supply items for her store.

After the suspects delivered the boxes, Aling Mely said some were empty while some had random items that she did not order. The swindlers were able to flee Aling Mely through a motorcycle, which was caught on CCTV.

"'Di ko ineexpect yung ganitong nangyari. 'Yung pakikipagusap niya talagang totoo," she said.

(I didn't expect this, their bargain seemed so real.)

She already sought the Quezon City Police District's help after finding out that the suspects also swindled other store owners.

Banjo Pilar, barangay captain of Pasong Tamo in Quezon City, advised store owners to buy from legitimate groceries to avoid bogus transactions.

"Mas maganda pa rin kung doon tayo sa lehitimong groceries tayo bumili ng paninda nang sa gayon 'di tayo maloloko," he said.

(Let's buy from legitimate groceries so that we won't be swindled.)—Consuelo Marquez/LDF, GMA News