After recovering from an illness, I went on with my daily living, managing the household, helping the kids with their school work, and unpacking the things since I haven’t finished unpacking since we moved to Benguet.
A few weeks later, I received a few message requests asking me if I was the person in the photo (sending me a copy of my passport bio-page) and demanding that I give her an update regarding the visa application. My heart started racing, my head was pounding, and my whole body was shaking upon realizing what the scammer had done. She used my identity to scam others!
I couldn’t sleep that night. I felt like the whole world crumbled and crashed on me. I responded to the victims, explaining what had happened to me. One of them added me to a group chat where she and the other victims were discussing about what had happened to them.
It was quite an experience how I had to prove my innocence to the distraught strangers who thought I was the one scamming them. Many times, I would feel weak and close to giving up. My partner would give positive insights for me to go on. He said, “Don’t get too stressed out. You know in your heart you did nothing wrong to these people. Your conscience is clear.” I would hang on to these words for strength.
You know how when people accuse you of bad stuff, you tend to think that you might be a bad person? That maybe you deserve this kind of misfortune? That maybe you are not good enough? That maybe you are dumb? I felt them all. The only thing that kept me sane was my husband and my children.
I decided to email the cybercrime group to report the incident and to clear my name. It took them days to respond, telling me to report to Camp Crame with a notarized affidavit to formally file the complaint, so they can start investigating. But with the current schedule I am in, the earliest time that I could go there would be in December.
It had now become a routine to check my message request section for any correspondence from another victim. Some of them did their due diligence and decided not to send money yet without verifying with me. I thanked God that they had the gift of discernment.
One day, I got another message request. This time, it wasn’t from another victim, but from a stranger who sent me a link to a post in an FB Group. The post had my name tagged as a scammer and the photos of me with my partner, children, and mom; and posted on the comment section a photo of my passport bio-page.
It was just disheartening. I wanted to be angry, but to whom? I prayed for guidance from God. To tell me what to do, because when your mind is in panic, it was just too hard to make the right move.
I decided to create a post on the said FB page clearing my name. People were quick to judge and malign. They don’t think about the toll that it was taking on my mental health.
Louella Papa Virtual Services 