Beware of Scammers Selling ZenFone 2

There are a lot of reasons to be excited for the ASUS ZenFone 2, but hopefully that enthusiasm don’t lead you into one of the fraudulent online sellers who are selling ZenFone 2 smartphones at a lower price.

We found out about the alleged seller’s MO in one of the local ASUS ZenFone 2 Facebook Groups. One of the members of the group posted the SMS exchange (screenshot below) that he had with the seller who claims to be part of the ASUS Philippines staff.

zenfone 2 scam

The seller claims that consumers can go directly to the ASUS factory/warehouse located in Batangas to pick up the item or they can deposit their payment to the “marketing department” after which the item will be delivered to them within 24 hours if they’re living in Luzon (2-3 days for Visayas/Mindanao customers).

The seller also claims that the item he is selling is covered by 1 year warranty and 7 days replacement.

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The amount of information on the alleged seller’s messages will easily sway any unknowing consumer into thinking that he, and whatever he’s saying, is credible. So in order to clarify if there’s any truth to any of the seller’s claims, we reached out to ASUS Philippines for a statement.

An official statement from ASUS Philippines was not readily available at the time of writing, but we were told by one of their representatives that ASUS does not have a factory in Batangas, and that they are not allowed to sell products directly to end users. He added that all ASUS products locally are sold through official distributors and re-sellers in the country. If we’re going to take that into consideration, the seller is not legitimate and is very likely to be running a scam.

To conclude, be extra careful in dealing with online sellers, or better yet, just wait for the official launch of the Asus ZenFone 2 in the Philippines which is slated to take place on May 16.

ALSO READ: DOJ issues advisory on online shopping fraud

Ronnie Bulaong

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

https://www.yugatech.com

8 Comments

Jay-ar Adriosula says:

9 years ago

Same situation here… Cherry Mobile Filipinas at OLX, balak kuna bumili sakanya but still confused parin ako buti nag search ako sa net, balak ko sana puntahan sa Batangas para pag na prove ko mag part time selling din ako… Buti nalang may sinipag na gumawa ng post para inform tulad kong mabilis mabola…
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veron says:

9 years ago

Yan din unh linya nung nagbebenta ng cherry mobile flare s3 power sa olx. Cherry mobile filipinas ung account name. Tapos 2999 ang benta nila. Pero ung factory nila sa CPIP naman. HAHA. HAAAY Andaming scammers sa olx.
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Matthew says:

9 years ago

Nag order po kami ng ps4 games from jasper gambino sa olx, 5 days na wala pa kami na receive from him. Hindi na rin nya kami sinasagot sa text
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Carl Lester Lopez says:

10 years ago

Alams nah yan klarong-klaro eh. May mga nagbebenta bah direct from factory? eh d nga yan pwd sa Production ng product parang under-the-table nah. Huwag magpabulag sa mga ganyang modus
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princess says:

10 years ago

i have personally reported the same scam at the asus main office in ortigas when i was looking for another phone unit that i thought i can purchase there directly.

i already saw the same ad saying that they have a base in batangas where i can get my desired unit at factory price. but upon further research, i found their pasig address and opted to go there instead.

upon arriving and realizing that nobody knew the inquiry i made via text and no one was even aware of my contacts, i showed them the whole conversation thread i was having right at that moment with the “seller”. they even borrowed my phone to supposedly “document” the incident.

apparently, with the re-appearance of this same suspect, they obviously took my report very lightly and now after a year, it is happening again.

ASUS, if you want to keep your customers, do mind what they are telling you. it’s too early for your company to be arrogant and complacent about these things. i advise that you do not even dare. you’re still a thriving brand in the mobile business to be this mindless.
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mark says:

10 years ago

Di na safe ang OLX. Everytime mag tingin ako ng item, tinitingnan ko muna yung mga feedback. Daming item nka post sa OLX eh useless lang kasi kulang lahat ng information. Yung idea ng OLX na tanggalin ang feedback kasi inaabuso eh mas lalong nagpapahirap.. Nag send ako ng query tapos ni representative ng olx hinde nga reply.
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diegong bayong says:

10 years ago

No such factory/plant of Asus exists in FPIP Batangas. I shoul know. FPIP is in my area of work and I am always there. Should there be one, I would have visited it immediately to offer business proposals.
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paolo says:

10 years ago

OLX, huh?

Ever since they nuked the ‘Feedback’ mechanism on their site to report erring sellers, OLX has become Scam Central Station. This is not new, what more stories of OLX-based scammers could be out there?

And why isn’t the DTI NOT doing anything about it?
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