EDITORIAL - If it’s too good to be true…

You’d think after several major pyramiding scams in the past, Filipinos would have learned to be more discerning in where they put hard-earned money. Yet thousands of people in several provinces in Mindanao are now complaining that a company called Aman Futures Group has duped them of substantial amounts of cash. Authorities are looking into reports that even certain local government units invested public funds in Aman’s get-rich-quick scheme.

Such scams have thrived by promising a quick return on investment that is much larger than any offered by regular banks. The scams also thrive because the early investors do make a profit before the pyramid collapses. There are laws against such schemes, but people continue to be lured by the promise of a quick buck. The best that the government can do is to catch and punish the perpetrators, and to help victims recover what’s left of the money taken from them.

On top of pyramiding schemes, thousands of Filipinos have also seen their life savings lost in insurance and pension frauds, the latest of which was the one allegedly sprung by the Legacy Group. Legacy owner Celso de los Angeles died this year with the P487-million syndicated estafa case filed against him still not resolved. The insurance industry, which depends on public trust, will benefit from tighter regulation.

Pyramid scams, whose victims walk willingly into the arms of swindlers, may prove harder to curb. People cannot be reminded enough that when it comes to solicitations for financial investment, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. But new scams can be discouraged if perpetrators of previous schemes are caught, convicted and put behind bars.