{"id":3984,"date":"2015-10-04T17:42:10","date_gmt":"2015-10-04T17:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=3984"},"modified":"2015-10-04T17:42:10","modified_gmt":"2015-10-04T17:42:10","slug":"western-sydney-filipinos-scammed-by-local-travel-agency-by-sabrina-cortez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=3984","title":{"rendered":"Western Sydney Filipinos scammed by local travel agency by Sabrina Cortez"},"content":{"rendered":"

They are angry, distressed and heartbroken. Their dream holidays crushed and family reunions ruined. <\/em><\/p>\n

More than 70 Filipinos fell victim to a Liverpool-based travel agent who scammed them of thousands of dollars.<\/p>\n

Complaints are being filed against G\u2019day Philippines<\/strong>, a travel agent, who<\/p>\n

owes more than one million dollars in flights and accommodation expenses to many customers.<\/p>\n

Originally known as Aeon International Travel<\/strong>, now trading as G\u2019day Philippines has been put on voluntary liquidation and is currently under external administration.<\/p>\n

Scam victims Neri and Ray Moncay seek legal advice<\/em><\/p>\n

Neri and Ray, a couple from Green Valley, paid $20,000 for their Eastern Europe trip. The money was entrusted to an employee of the travel agency who has also been their friend since 2007.<\/p>\n

They were scheduled to leave late September to meet friends and family.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is [more] about the deception,\u201d says Ray. \u201cThe breach of trust is the one that hurts the most.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf my husband did not email them to follow-up on payments, I would not have known they were being liquidated,\u201d says Neri.<\/p>\n

G\u2019day Philippines continues to do business in the community while Aeon has declared bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

They have also tried to use the credit card charge-back provisions as a cheat system to scam customers, passing on the responsibility back to the credit card companies.<\/p>\n

[Another victim] Mila from Seven Hills has lodged legal action against Aeon International\u00a0 but she is still awaiting positive results.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have done everything,\u201d says Mila. \u201cThey made me a written promise that they\u2019d pay me, but they haven\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve even taken my account number and bank details.\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency uses tactics as information nights at local RSL\u2019s, word-of-mouth and using Filipino courtesies to lure people in.<\/p>\n

How else can you help but feel cheated? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Some customers who paid in full have not received compensation or documentation to alert them of Aeon\u2019s bankruptcy.<\/p>\n

Could it be that this is planned to protect the diverted funds to G\u2019day Philippines and to the director\u2019s personal accounts to escape unfair trading claims?<\/p>\n

[Scam victims] Eleanor<\/strong> and Antonio <\/strong>from Wakely said they want retribution and for Aeon’s activities to be terminated.<\/p>\n

Owing $20,000 to Eleanor and Antonio for travel expenses and travel insurance to visit their daughter in London, Aeon has not bothered to inform them about their insolvency.<\/p>\n

Public servers have advised victims to collectively report Aeon to Australian Securities and Investments Commission and for federal authorities to bring back travel compensation.<\/p>\n

Further comment from Aeon director Rosemarie Delos Santos with the customers has yet to be made.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sad fact of modern life. Scammers are trying to cheat honest people of their money.<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re looking to book your next holiday, you must be wary of scammers who will try to suck you in with travel offers.<\/p>\n

If you believe you are a victim, public servers advise to file a report online to ASIC and the Australian Financial Security Authority or contact them on 1300 300 630.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They are angry, distressed and heartbroken. Their dream holidays crushed and family reunions ruined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,16,49,77],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3984"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3984\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}