Faith Healing-Scam

[Jollygoodfellow]

Seems to be a problem world wide where desperate people become victims of scams,to me this is a very low life crime as these people who are scammed in the hope that a medical issue will be fixed for family members. :hystery:THREE persons were arrested in Zamboanga City after deceiving several people of millions of pesos worth of jewelry by posing as “faith healers.”The suspects were identified as Analie Sali, 36, and her husband Yahiya, and Analie’s stepmother Erminda Saladin, 50.The three, who were arrested in separate operations, duped their victims of estimated P5 to P10 million in several occasions using fancy rituals to heal sick members of the family.The suspects would ask their victims for jewelry to be mixed with rice and wrapped in a green cloth during rituals.This will be buried into the ground or thrown into the sea afterwards, Zamboanga Police director Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo said.The victims are warned not to dig out the cloth, citing death of family members and other circumstances may happen. But unknown to the victims, these pieces of jewelry have been surreptitiously taken by the suspects before the green cloth is buried into the ground or thrown into the sea.The suspects' modus operandi was uncovered when one of the victims' nieces dug out the cloth and discovered that the pieces of jewelry were missing, De Ocampo said.He said the other victims also discovered the same after being informed of the modus.During the investigation, following the filing of complaint against the suspects, it was discovered that some pieces of jewelry were already pawned in different pawnshops, De Ocampo said.http://www.sunstar.com.ph/zamboanga/local-news/2012/02/19/three-faith-healers-arrested-swindling-207031

[Mike S]

It is very unfortunate that many people will resort to ANY type of help when all seems hopeless ...... and in poorer countries the scams don't really have to be elaborate ..... they can be as simple as what you posted above ...... same goes for the "Dr. Quacks" here in the Philis hundreds of people go o them and swear by them and would kill to protect them ..... but all they are doing is using the peoples own psyche against them ...... sorry folks but there are no such thing as miracle workers or at least people that perform miracles ...... miracles can I suppose happen but not performed by people ...... I hear all the time here "I'm going to see Dr. Quack" to fix my cancer or diabetes or heart problems ..... so sad .... :23_11_62[1]:

Edited February 20, 2012 by Mike S

[Tatoosh]

Faith healers are a long tradition in the Philippines. Part of it is scam, part if it is poverty, and part of it is simply lingering native traditions because the Spaniards did not "flood' their colony with doctors as part of their conquest. Here is a link to traditional healers of the Philippines, and not all are "scammers" in the sense the story above describe, but rather native attempts to heal family and clan members with what they believed and had at hand. The Healers

[Art2ro]

Scam or no scam, because one can be uncertain of these of things! On this subject matter of faith healing, one is either strong in one's faith, gullible or just plain down right stupid! I'm neither of those! :23_11_62[1]:

[Dzighnman]

Faith healers are a long tradition in the Philippines

Reminds me of when my mother in law was suffering from a tremendous headache....all day long, moaning and groaning.. .I was trying to get her to try some pain reliever I had with me from the US... no, not interested, the doctor will be here soon.... I was like,really? it is that bad? a headache warrants a housecall? Well, when the "doctor" arrived, it was like a person just off the street. She came in and started pressing on my MIL's back and then knees and elbows and I am thinking what kind of whacked crap is this? I asked my wife how long her mother has depended on "witch doctor" medicine and she , well, all I can say is I do not recommend making that comment again.....anyhow, after 20 minutes or so of pressing and whispering and IDK, maybe there was an animal sacrifice or something in there.... she took her 50 php and left... I asked how it went, my MIL, knowing I thought it was BS, indicated all was better and she was up and acting normal again..... all I can say is at least this whack job only took 50 php from her, but to me it proves that sometimes, the power of belief in whatever it may be, is very real to some people and do I believe that a real headache was cured? not really... just that my MIL was convinced it was so makes me wonder about the headache origins in the first place.

[Dave Hounddriver]

but to me it proves that sometimes, the power of belief in whatever it may be, is very real to some people and do I believe that a real headache was cured? not really... just that my MIL was convinced it was so makes me wonder about the headache origins in the first place.

I have enough relatives that are nurses to know that even the west has 'faith healing' for that kind of thing. Its just that they call it TLC. Sometimes a patient just wants someone to make a fuss over them and then they feel better.

[i am bob]

Though I don't believe in faith healing itself, there is a lot of modern medicine based on the folk lore medicines, Chinese medicines and, yes, even the witches of yesterday... And a great number of our medicines are based on the properties of plants from around the world. And, yes, Dave, I agree! Much healing is accomplished through the application of paying attention to the patient.

[joeatmanila]

I have nothing against faith healers. scumbags? Depends how far they go!!!!Let's not forget that the human mind has huge capabilities and unknown powers. Their "rituals" or influence ways do help some people who strongly believe on them.Religion and miracles work in the same way, simply under a legal veil.