Psst… Don’t tell anybody…
I’m going to tell you something, but keep it quiet, OK? This is just between you and I, and I want it to stay that way. I found gold! That’s right, you read it correctly, I’M RICH! Well, maybe I’m not, but you can’t imagine how many times I have heard this before. If you are not aware, treasure hunting is sort of a Philippine national pasttime, and especially here in Mindanao.
The king of the treasures is Yamashita’s Gold, and legend is that Yamashita’s Gold was hidden here in the Philippines back during World War II. Some people say that President Marcos got Yamashita’s Gold during his time as President. Others believe that the treasure is still hiding somewhere in the Philippines. For me, I really don’t care one way or another.
Do you know what the real treasure is that is being hunted? The money in the bank accounts of gullible foreigners. You see, there are lots of Filipinos who try to get foreigners to fund hunts for treasure, or try to scam foreigners by selling them fake treasure. It is very common, and it is something that you should look out for, in almost every case I have ever heard of, this is nothing but a scam.
A number of years ago when I first moved to the Philippines, I met a nice fellow from the USA. We originally met online, and we met in person when he came to the Philippines. This fellow worked in the International Shipping business, specifically shipping personal good for people who moved to other countries. This guy, I’ll call him Tony, was an intelligent guy, but he was taken in this scam, and it cost him a great deal. Not only did Tony lose a lot of money, he lost his job, he lost his wife, and a lot of other important things in his life.
You see, some of these scam artists came to Tony and told him that they had found treasure, and it included a lot of precious metals. They needed Tony to help them smuggle it out of the country, and he would get a percentage, of course, for his efforts. Tony’s connections to the shipping industry would give him all that was needed to become a multi-millionaire! Well Tony fell for the scam, and later his company found out. They fired him because he was using his company connections to dip into illegal activities. Tony wasn’t even worried about losing his job, though, because he was about to get a share of this huge precious metals find! Well, Tony had to put money into the deal to pull it off, and lo and behold, he later found out that the metals that were being shipped were nothing but scrap metals. He lost almost every important thing in his life, and a lot of cash too, and it was for nothing. I haven’t heard from Tony in the years since that happened. I think that he is too embarrassed to talk to me anymore.
What if you meet a fellow foreigner and he offers to let you in on a treasure find? Well, he is probably trying to rip you off too. Just because somebody is from the same country that you are from, it doesn’t mean that he is looking out for your best interests, you can bet on that. A number of years ago, I met an American guy at a local restaurant. He seemed to be a very nice guy, and I invited him and his wife to come to my house for dinner later in the week. He accepted my invitation. A day later, he sent me a text message and told me that he had come into some gold bars, and offered to sell some to me at half of the market price of gold. I told him that I wasn’t interested. Never heard from him again after that, and they didn’t show up for dinner either. I was a mark, and since he found out he couldn’t score from me, he moved on.
If you get approached about treasure, gold, other precious metals or anything of the sort, don’t just turn around and walk away - instead, you should RUN. It isn’t going to happen.
Bob this is back on the football comment. I am still looking for the DirectTV information-I will find it. I always write things down and lose them until I find them-does that make sense? During my search I did find one site-not sure what this is all about but it fits the topic. http://www.wwitv.com I will be back once I find what I am looking for. Ron
Morning Bob,
The world is full of people wishing to relieve fools of their money. Personally, I don’t ming major scams like this because they are easier to spot. Always far too good to be true. Ask for a gold bar as evidence if anyone claims to have some! I have seen documentaries along this theme. Quite probably there is gold in them thar hills, the same way Nazi treasures still turn up - but it is very infrequently!
In P.T. Banum’s Sideshows he had a hawker selling 25 cent tickets for people to see the great egress… mind you this was the late 1800’s when 25 cents was alot of money, proving the adage there’s a sucker born every minute.
Hi Ron LaFleur - I am familiar with that website, thanks for passing it along. The only problem is, that’s streaming video, and getting enough bandwidth to watch that here in the Philippines will be expensive, and also difficult to even buy.
Hi AussieLee - absolutely! Anything too good to be true usually is.
Hi BrSpiritus - oh yes, if anybody’s an expert about a sucker being born every minute, it is certainly PT Barnum.
Hi Bob,
Ah yes, the scam industry is alive and well, I see. This sounds like the “infamous” Nigerian [email] scams. I’m sure you’ve received these emails promising one of a percentage of millions of dollars. When I get these emails, the blessed DELETE button is a keystroke away. I’ve only been scammed once and that was a business opportunity in the 900-number industry. Fortunately I only lost a few hundred dollars. That experience was enough for me to never trust anyone peddling a so-called business offer. Let the buyer beware indeed!
Cheers!
Hi Henry - It’s funny, because the Nigerian scam artists came to my mind as I wrote this column!
Hi Bob,
In Canada we have lots of stories of small companies claiming they’ve found the motherlode of all gold / silver / diamond discoveries. There was a recent story of a couple who bought some land in the Province of Ontario, Canada. They claim they went for a hike around their property and found diamonds lying on the ground just there for the picking. They set up an exploration company and had it listed on the stock exchange and started selling shares to investors. Surprise, surprise!! It was just a scam.
I find that it’s important to try to determine the integrity of the people you are dealing with before investing any money. You can trust them if you can verify everything they say is true.
Hi Randall Jessup - I guess these things happen everywhere! I wouldn’t have expected it in Canada. I must say, though, I find it more rampant in the Philippines, though.
ha ha ha this is a good one Bob ..I had someone offer to sell me 15 kilos of gold in the philippines ,i said i didn’t have the money for it …may the buyer beware Bob …. Phil R.
Hi phil R. - No doubt on that one, Phil!
Hi Bob,Great post
So many scams have appeared over the years, worldwide.One scam i remember from back in 1970,s was plots of land for sale on a Carribean Island at ridiculous cheap prices,many were taken in.The area was hyped as a future up and coming tourist resort.Buyers were sent title and a map of their plot.They appeared to prey on people who lived far overseas like Europe,as air travel then was difficult and very expensive.One brave guy decided to fly over and survey the plot he had bought,all the plots were in a jungle many miles from the beach,and virtually worthless 
Reminds me of the old adage “If it looks to good to be true,it probably is” regards Chas.
Hi CHAS - sometimes I think that the very scam that you mentioned in the Caribbean is still going on here in the Philippines! And, foreigners can’t even own land here!
Not only are foreigners approached, but also relatives of foreigners. If the scammers know that Filipinos have foreign relatives, then they can be victims also. I know of one family that pawned their land and gave the scammers that money plus money from the USA that was to be used to send someone overseas for a pending job. In all they lost a great deal.
It is hard to believe anyone would fall for a scam that really makes no sense, and from a complete stranger that shows up out of the clear blue. Doesn’t it sound any alarms? And of course, time is of the essence. The deal must be done immediately and in complete secrecy. I guess the thought of being rich is stronger than any common sense.
Hi Lloyd - That is very true. Families of OFW’s or any member of the family overseas instantly become scam targets.
Bob,
I have an interesting Philippines treasure story. In the late 1980’s I owned a business in Guam that provided business services such as secretarial, faxing, mail receiving etc. One day a New York businessman arrived and began using our services extensively to communicate with Imelda Marcos in Hawaii as Ferninand’s health deteriorated. He claimed he had been hired by the Marcos’ to move the fabled gold looted by a Japanese admiral and general during WWII. He acquired a submarine, hired a crew, then flew to Beijing to negotiate a direct sale of the gold to the Chinese government. For secrecy purposes he couldn’t be in Hawaii or the Philippines to make the arrangements. He didn’t want anything directly tying him to the Marcos’ so he used our services as a way to communicate to them.
I don’t know if he was conned or not. If it was true I don’t know if he was successful in getting to the gold and getting it to the Chinese government.
I forgot about it until a few years later when I was in Manila on business and I spotted a newspaper article in which Imelda was complaining she was broke. During that trip I couldn’t get a room at the Westin Philippine Plaza even at $200 per night The reason there weren’t any rooms, the hotel staff informed me, was that because Imelda had booked an entire floor indefinitely!
Hi Kevin K. - That is an interesting story. If I had to bet, I’d bet that he was scammed, and I’d bet that he wasn’t even talking to the Marcos family, although I’m sure he thought he was.
You never know, though… anything is possible!
Hi Bob- With reference to treasure hunting. I remember one time back in the late 80’s we visted my Mother-in-law in Talakag on holiday.I was amazed to find the whole of the back yard of the house with holes dug everywhere. When I asked what was going on I was told that someone had found a map left by the Japanese who incidentally had requisitioned the old family house as the senior officers quarters during the war and were sure that they had buried treasure there.Well if there was anything found we never saw it and incidentally they never even filled in the holes they dug. During the dig it was a nightmare going to the Thunderbox after dark, now thats another story.
Regards.
Jim.
Hi Bob
I had a telephone call from my daughter a few years back. She wanted to know if I wanted to invest some money with her. The investment was to help fund an inventor who had come up with a miniture battery that would have enough power to run a small town for 12 months without recharge.
All the testing was complete but he had run out of money to complete the mass production of this battery, promises of great wealth was to come to a handful of chosen people who wanted to be part of this great leap forward in engeering. It even made the local media.
I told her to give her head a shake and forget it, and after much arguments she agreed not to proceed even though there were people queing up to hand over money to this fellow.
Of course it all turned out to be a scam. Some people have great imaginations.
Actually I was approached about one month ago in Bo’s by an Australian guy named Geoff (blondish hair late 50’s) who was telling me about the ton’s of gold found on some land he just bought and needed to get it out fast as it was hard to keep it a secret. He showed me pictures of bar gold he had from another find. He asked me if I wanted in and for some reason he wanted me to put up some money (can’t remember for what) and I would get a small percentage because he liked me ha ha ha. It all sounded a little fishy and since PT Barnum and I are on good terms. If I wasn’t street smart who knows but it is possible to be taken in like this. He sounded very sincere and knowledgeble about mining the stuff. He also brought along a white friend who lives in Samal and found an underground cave that supposedly has gold in it right under his house. Never figured white guys for this in the Philippines. They could get really hurt pulling this off on the wrong people
Hi Jim - Ha ha… very typical experience, I’m afraid!
Hi Jack - in these days of dwindling energy supplies, any man that would come up with an idea like that would be able to get funding without a problem, I believe. I hope your daughter learned a lesson on that one!
Hi Rich Simonson - isn’t it amazing that foreigners are also involved in scamming other foreigners on this? As I said in my article, I’ve also been approached by other foreigners. Of course, just because somebody’s a foreigner doesn’t mean that they’re honest, but like you said this is something that could really get somebody in big trouble, even get them killed!
Hi bob,
the victim?… people who want to be rich overnight.. well, for me there is no such thing as getting rich overnight, i’ve known a group of weallthy people, they make their fortune by working hard, sweat and blood! and that is the way to go to be rich!
Hi dans - very true. It’s like Merrill Lynch -they make money the old fashioned way…. of course, they just went under, didn’t they?
I live here in GSIS Heights and everyone here in the Heights district thinks they are sitting on gold. I’ve looked at a couple of houses that were for sale, many of them talk about selling for so cheap of a price when “There’s Gold In Dem’ Der’ Hills”. One fellow had his whole front yard dug up and completely encased in roof tin so noone could see in. There had been or was a man in the hole digging down into a tunnel that he had made and was some 18 to 25 feet down. I got the tour of the house and when the paperwork was brought out, what do you think was in the pile???? Ahhh, the infamous “You Buy This House And I’ll Give You 1/3rd Of The Gold Rights” declaration!!! I had to laugh the whole time yet I am still intrigued by the whole thing that everyone is sitting on Gold and the GSIS Government attachment here just fuels the fire for many. Oh well, great story though Bob. I haven’t been living here long but that’s one story that seems to hit you in the face here right away.
Hi Tim Walker - that area over where you live was really a Japanese stronghold during World War II, so it doesn’t surprise me that there are a lot of rumors of gold there, although it’s something I didn’t know. That contract you mentioned did give me a little chuckle too.
Hi Bob,Ha Ha,some very interesting stories here that just reminded me of something,although it was not really a scam as there was actually gold there.Klondike Gold Rush,apart from a few exceptions,the other guys who became rich, were the guys who set up hardware stores in the town selling shovels,picks and pans etc,no risk and a captive audience,regards Chas.
Hi CHAS - I didn’t know about that, but it sure doesn’t surprise me!
This is very appropriate advice. And as several have pointe dout, although such scams are rampant in the Philippines, they are very much alive in other coutries. recently I was suprised by an authoritative report about Nicerina inhertince scams in Australia … a country with only a third of the population of the Philippines and avery well-educated population at that. More thna 40,000 people had fallen for the so-called Nigerian scam in a year! A number of them were even lawyers.
Heer’s an easy rule that will keep your money in your pocket in any country … if it is not something you earned by honest labor or services, then you aren’t entitled to it … so don’t try to take what isn’t yours. I had to chuckle with the ‘ask for a gold bar’ as evidence … that’s one of the oldest ’sucker tricks’ in the book, I have no claim nor right to Yamashita’s gold, thus I can’t/won’t be involved in any effort to get any of it … it is not mine.
Oh, got $10 million from a long lost relative in the bank and you can get it transferred to me for a small fee? Thanks but no thanks, I don’t take money that doesn’t belong to me.
It’s nearly impossible to scam an honest man. I have fallen for a scam our two in my life … I’m not perfect by any means … but I was never scammed when my intentions were truly honorable, only when I was trying to get somehtinb that didn’t belong to me.
(as an interesting aside, Yamshita treasure maps and other schemes are big sellers on the ’somehting for nothing’ market in Japan, too … many Japanese think Yamshita moved his fortune back to Japan.)
Hi Dave Starr - and I totally agree when it comes to keeping your money in your pocket. That’s the best way to stop a scam every time.