A 16-YEAR-OLD girl complained to the police that she was duped by con artists last Saturday in barangay Bulacao, Talisay City.The girl said she lost P2,000 cash, a cellphone worth P2,000 and a Walkman to a man and a woman, who introduced themselves as dried fish vendors. The girl said that she was waiting for the Visayan Electric Company (VECO) office to open to pay household electric bills when two persons approached her. The couple said they were looking for a vehicle to transport their merchandise and showed her two bags. One bag contained money. The girl said the other bag was entrusted to her as the couple went to look for a vehicle.
Before leaving, the woman required the girl to turn over her belongings as guarantee that she would not disappear while they were looking for a vehicle. When the two persons left, the girl said she checked the bag and found out that it only contained paper bills cut in the size of money. The fake bills are a common modus operandi of the “budol-budol” gang. Through a photo shown to the girl, the police identified the con artist as a female resident of Oslob town, southern Cebu. PO2 Teodoro Azarcon said the woman was arrested five months ago in Barili town for swindling charges but posted bail. CORRESPONDENT JUSTIN A.K. VESTIL | 
