The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday advised the public against dealing with spurious companies posing as legitimate organizations, such as the Philippine Investment Funds Association and CT Loan Cash Loan and Credit Co.
The SEC said the clever imposters at the Philippine Investment Funds Association apparently drew strength from the legitimate Philippine Investment Funds Association Inc. or PIFA who are a 70-member group of mutual fund companies managed by professional asset fund managers.
The spurious homonym is offering anyone with perhaps a slim understanding of legitimate investments through a fake PIFA Facebook account, its clients none the wiser that the clone is not in any way connected to the legitimate association.
The fake account, which lists Marivic Orbe Meran, Mary Peters and Rickson Rapal as administrators, asks the public to invest P1,000 up to P50,000 in the enterprise with the promise of a guaranteed 250 percent to 340 percent return in only four days.
How that happens when the Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) increased at this point by only 575 points or 8.91 percent since the start of the year boggles the mind although no one bothers when told their money is invested in the stock market.
No one also bothers to question how one is given a referral bonus of 15 percent of the investment the importers received from its members.
The SEC is up to its ears reiterating that investment contracts such as those proffered by homonyms like the Philippine Investment Funds Association “must be registered with the SEC before these can be offered for sale or distribution to the public.”
The SEC also noted the PIFA name was merely stolen and used without authority from the legitimate group of mutual fund professionals.
The SEC similarly advised the public against transacting with the multisyllabic CT Loan Cash Loan and Credit Co. that operates out of a smartphone application called CT Loan.
The SEC said this other clever smart app is not a registered lending company and certainly not authorized to operate an online lending platform.
The advisory came following a report by CT Link Systems Inc. (CTLSI) which registers as an information technology company extremely bothered by the alleged shenanigans of its homonym.
“As CTLSI mentioned, it received complaints from the public on the harassment they receive from collectors in relation to loans availed of using the CT loan app. It must be noted that the webpage of CT Loan displayed the address and the telephone number of CTLSI,” the SEC said.
Apple Store on the first day of May this year took down the CT Loan and Cash Loan Credit app following the CTLSI complaint.
