An alleged ex-pro esports player scammer is about to get the justice hammer pretty soon.
Molly Octaviano has filed an estafa case against former professional esports player John Paulo “paulowow” Bacani at the NBI Cybercrime Division earlier today.
According to the complaint, an individual claiming to be Mark Ryan S. Pagalunan offered her Valorant Points through her Facebook account on Tuesday, February 16, 2021. The man decided to show him testimonials from “buyers” as “proof of legitimacy” to lure Octaviano into buying from him. After paying a total of P2,178, the digital item in question did not come despite multiple follow-ups.
Besides, the man who claimed to be Pagalunan deactivated his Facebook account to prevent any attempts at contact. However, after investigation, it was determined that Bacani was the one who did the scam and assumed a ton of different identities as well, thanks to number tracing and cross-referencing via the cellphone number used in the transaction.
The complainant has mentioned that she filed her complaint “to seek justice for all the 29 people and more who have been swindled/scammed amounting to a couple of hundred thousand pesos (and to all the gaming communities that this person has caused trouble).”
Octaviano has no plans of withdrawing her complaint. She declared that Bacani had “messed with the wrong person” and that she is willing to waste her “precious time” to pursue the case. She also added that she gave him many chances to return the money; however, when she realized that Bacani did not intend to return the money, she decided to pursue the case.
Valorant Points, otherwise known as VP, is the main soft currency for the first-person shooter title Valorant.
Bacani is a former professional player who played for many teams, including Bren Esports and Imperium, in the past. It is alleged that he has financially thrived by being an ex-pro esports player scammer.
The NBI Cybercrime Division is the agency arm responsible for formulating and implementing law enforcement investigation and prosecution strategies in curbing cybercrime and cyber-related offenses throughout the Philippines.
Bacani has been alleged to be involved in several other scamming schemes across different gaming titles, including CS:GO, Dota 2, and Valorant. Several off-the-record statements from insiders have confirmed that he tried to scam players on multiple occasions.
There has been no official statement from Bacani as of press time.
