BEHIND
THE SCENES
Alfred
P. Dizon
Beware of gift cards
offered or promotional and marketing strategies -- they may not be real or
warranted.
The Department of
Trade and Industry-Cordillera Administrative Region issued warning last week
relative to proliferation of gift cards purportedly from Golden ABC Stores Inc.
The DTI had been
advised by Golden ABC on the circulation of fake gift certificates and gift
cards which their subsidiaries have been receiving recently from customers as
payment of purchases, said DTI information officer Art Tibaldo.
The gift certificates
and gift cards come in P500 and P1,000 denominations and copies of samples that
have been furnished the DTI included cards and certificates for the
establishments Memo, Regatta, Penshoppe, Oxygen and For Me, he added.
DTI-CAR Regional
Director Myrna P. Pablo advised the public to be prudent in transacting with
individuals or groups that offer such certificates and gift cards as these will
not be honored by Golden ABC and its companies and boutiques..
Pablo appealed to the
public to help in putting a stop to the circulation of fake GCs by reporting
any information on the individuals or groups distributing or selling these GCs
to the nearest DTI office.
***
In a related
development, the DTI and Securities and Exchange Commission warned investors
against engaging the services of a fake firm operating under the name
Professional Forex Union Limited.
The DTI found the firm
was engaged in questionable market practices. The SEC upon checking with its
Company Registration and Monitoring Department, said the company was found to
be spurious and not in their database.
Pablo said that the
SEC is an agency partner in protecting the public against scams and
illegal market practices.
Earlier reports
received by the DTI office mentioned a group of persons operating under the
name Professional Forex Union Limited or Professional Forex for brevity
offering various online financial services and products such as fiduciary management
of shares, foreign exchange trading and advice, and other investment products
through its website https://proforexunion.com.
To prove its
credibility, the firm reportedly also published its Philippine registration
documents such as its Certificate of Incorporation and SEC Registration Number
in its website which the SEC found not registered.
The SEC-CAR can be
reached through telephone numbers 074 442 8171 for reports leading to the
scheming activity of said firm. The DTI also encouraged the public to report
Professional Forex’s fraudulent transactions through the following telephone
numbers: DTI regional office - 442 7859 or 442 8634, DTI-Abra at 074 7527737,
DTI-Apayao at 0928785 9631, DTI Baguio-Beguet at 074 6192722 or 174 304 1129,
DTI-Ifugao at 074 382 2006, DTI-Kalinga at 074 423 0748 and DTI-Mountain
province at 074 602 1047.
These advisories were
made in time for
World Consumer Rights
Day observed every 15th day of March.
The WCRD was first commemorated
in 1983 and became an important annual occasion for mobilizing citizen action
and solidarity within the international consumer movement.
The day is an
opportunity for promoting basic rights of all consumers, demanding that those
rights be respected and protected and protesting about the market abuses and
social injustices which undermine them.
The day takes place on
15 March to mark the definition of consumer rights, outlined by US President
John F. Kennedy. He was the first world leader to set a vision of consumer
rights and he also recognized the importance of consumers as a group. Kennedy gave the American consumer
four basic rights: the right to safety, to choose, to information and to be
heard. The aim of WRCD is to celebrate solidarity within the international
consumer rights movement. This concept was then adopted worldwide.
The World Consumer
Rights Day is organized by Consumers International (CI), which is the world
federation of consumer groups that serves as the only independent and
authoritative global voice for consumers and was founded in 1960. Currently it
has over 220 member organizations in 115 countries around the world.
This year’s theme is
“Consumer Justice Now.” In the Cordillera, the DTI Baguio-BenguetOffice coordinated a gathering participated in
by consumer organizations, academe, and major players in the business
sector. The assembly discussed s consumer welfare and protection,
updates on laws governing consumer rights, and other government programs to ensure
consumer education.
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