Actor Laurence Pang is a familiar face who has played many roles on TV over the years, including on English-language dramas Tanglin and Sunny Side Up. More recently, however, he went on air to share his own personal drama.
On Jan 17, Laurence appeared on Filipino public affairs programme, Raffy Tulfo in Action, to air his grievances after losing around 1.5 million pesos ($34,800) in a purported love scam.
The popular TV show, where the aggrieved share their complaints in hopes of having them resolved, is hosted by Filipino broadcaster-turned-senator Raffy Tulfo, who mediates between the parties involved.
In the interview, 78-year-old Laurence told Raffy that he had been lured to do business on a “fake online shopping mall” by a woman he’d met on Pinalove, a Filipino dating website, in late 2024.
He alleged that the mall was a fake version of the well-known Japanese e-commerce platform Rakuten, and while they shared the same name, the one he’d been shown was “not the real one”.
The woman, who called herself Mika, had helped him to go through the registration process. She’d also showed Laurence her “profits” and told him how she was “making good money”, he said.
Convinced, Laurence said he’d wanted to invest just $100 initially, but the amount soon snowballed.
He went on to describe how as a “reseller” on the website, he was promised 10 per cent in commission each time a purchase was made, but he would have to pay for the products first.
However, he quickly found that he was unable to withdraw his capital and profit as there would always be “outstanding orders” unfulfilled, which prevented him from doing so.
“That’s the modus operandi,” said Raffy.
‘She used her charms’
Laurence stated that he’d lost “over $27,000 in cryptocurrency”, or about 1.5 million pesos, in total to the ruse.
“She used her charms, let’s put it this way,” he added when asked how he was persuaded by Mika to invest in the scheme.
“Being an old man, you know, when a young lady says, ‘I like you…’ stupid, you know,” he said, gesturing to himself.
Laurence stated that after he found out that he had been scammed, he took a screenshot of the woman without her knowledge while on a video call with her.
He also alleged that the woman looked different from the photos that were presented on the dating site, which appeared to be heavily edited.
Laurence added that he has since stopped picking up her calls, to which Raffy indicated that they would want to follow up on the case by giving Mika a call.
A spokeswoman from the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group was also invited by Raffy to speak on the show, where she stated that these “love scammers” operate by “getting the sympathy of their victims”, before encouraging these people to invest in cryptocurrency.
On the show, Raffy stated that they would be accompanying Laurence to the anti-cybercrime group’s office to file a complaint and track down the woman’s whereabouts.
Raffy also added that “as penance” for his fellow countrymen’s actions, he would be sponsoring the rest of Laurence’s stay, including providing him with a daily allowance.
“I’m doing this because I’m ashamed that you are duped by a fellow Filipino. I feel kind of embarrassed, so as penance, I’m doing this to show to you, sir, that we Filipinos are not like what this Mika did to you,” he said, to which Laurence responded, “I appreciate that.”
Laurence stated on the programme that he would be leaving the Philippines on Tuesday (Jan 21).
AsiaOne has reached out to Laurence for more information.
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candicecai@asiaone.com
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