Watch out for this bogus 'torney! (Part 1)

One morning, a few days ago, I visited the downtown desk-top publishing shop of my lady, Carmen. I got myself seated before a computer that was put beside an iron lattice behind which was the place of the fax machine.

I had been working on a document for a few minutes already when I noticed that Norma, Carmen's operator of an expensive photo-copier, was hunched over the fax machine. She was talking with someone over the phone in a manner that got my attention. Her voice was very subdued. It was obvious that by whispering to the phone that she even cupped, she wanted no one to overhear what she was saying

When I looked at her, I saw fear overcoming her. Norma suddenly appeared older than she really was. Creases seemingly lined her otherwise pleasant forehead. Her paling face highlighted her worried look. She could not be shaking out of the cold blush from the over-head airconditioner because it was too early in the morning to switch it on. In fact, she was perspiring and the paper that she was holding revealed how much she was trembling!

My curiosity was aroused. I stopped what I was encoding and attempted to figure out what was the conversation all about. From her muffled voice, I discerned that an "attorney" was on the other end of Norma's line. "Pila na man lay akong bayran torney"? "Nganong dako man na kaayo, torney?" "O, mangita ko torney pero di mo makasaad nga mabayad ko rong semanaha". These were some of the words she seemed to whisper.

I asked Naci, another worker of Carmen, if she had any idea with whom Norma was conversing and what was it all about. Naci replied that she was the one who answered the call. She revealed to me that, indeed, an "attorney" was collecting an old account Norma incurred from a credit card company. That "attorney" was a most persistent collector. And he never failed to weave into his collection calls such intimidating remarks as accrued interests, accumulating penalties and spiraling fees.

When I queried Naci who that attorney was, she gave me the name of Atty. Pedro Leslie Salva, a good friend of mine. I was confident that I knew the voice of Attorney Salva, not only because we are friends but because we had talked quite a number of times in the past over the phone.

Hoping that I could be of some help to Norma, I signaled upon her to give the phone to me. I saw that she was somehow relieved when she handed to me the phone. Why? I did not know then. When I heard the man on the other end of the phone, I was immediately sure he was not my friend. That person was an impostor. He pretended to be Atty. Salva. Thinking that it was useless to talk with a fraud, I just told the bogus "attorney" on the phone not to waste our employee's time for a private matter that had nothing to do with our desk publishing business. Then, as impolitely as a fraud would do, I cut the conversation and placed the phone back on its cradle.

The impostor could not be daunted. That bogus "torney" called back and because he was speaking in flawed like English spliced with an equally skewed Tagalog, I told him to speak to me in English like lawyers would. He could not carry on a decent conversation using simple English sentences. It did not surprise me when he, in his faulty Tagalog asked me if I could be a Korean. Wanting to end abruptly our useless chat, I plainly told him that he was talking to an attorney.

I then thought of calling the real Atty. Salva. After all, we had not talked with each other for some time and it was a welcome opportunity to exchange notes. When we got connected, I opened up with our usual greeting: "Pedro, Avenescio ni". "Yes, sir" was his reply as he never failed to address me "sir" in the past.

Indeed, after I told him the nature of my call, that gentleman lawyer was profuse in his apology. He said that he had been receiving calls about this impostor who was using his name. And he was already both embarrassed and irritated quite a bit. Atty. Salva could not however pinpoint who the guy was although he felt that he could be a collector working for one of his retained clients. And as I sympathized my friend with the situation he was in, he requested me to get the name of the pretender if he ever called again.

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