Hundreds of dollars have been lost by dozens of people who, seeking the services of the so-called “Sobador de San José” have fallen victims to scams.
Guillermo Olmedo assured that he has been receiving people for months who come to his office deceived by a fake Facebook profile in which they impersonate him.
“They ask for $200 first, others $150, others have already been asked for $500 to $700 and they are already asking for a lot, so we ask the authorities for help,” said Guillermo.
The last fake profile that has been reported called itself ‘Curing the Universe’, with more than 400 thousand followers, it was active until just a few days ago. There they shared Guillermo’s videos to deceive people by charging them deposits for fake appointments.
One of those victims was Clemente Martínez, an Oregon resident who shared 48 tests with Telemundo and assured that he drove to San José hoping to be cured of waist pain.
“They asked me for a deposit of $150 to be able to get the appointment and I went, I went to look for Mr. Guillermo in San José and when I got there to the office, everything was closed,” explained Clemente.
When he asked for an explanation from the same page where he made the appointment, they answered this message saying: ‘never trust anyone, we are scammers from Ohio, sorry for the inconvenience.’
“Frustrated because I honestly didn’t expect that. I took a 12 hour trip to California, I had to rent a hotel there, I had to miss 3 days of work. The truth is that what hurt me the most was that they made me waste time without achieving anything,” said Clemente.
In California it is called robbery by false pretenses and it is a crime that can amount to a serious offense, which is why you should report it to the police, even if weeks or months have passed.
“If someone comes from Oregon to San José, they should talk to the San José police because it seems that the fraud happened in San José, but also with the Oregon police as well,” said Javier Ríos, a criminal lawyer.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) pointed out which are the red flags that should not be missed.
“They ask for the money in advance in total, that is a red flag. Also how they ask for the money. If they take you to another page or money platform that you have never used, be very careful with that,” explained Alma Galván, spokesperson for the Better Business Bureau.
Guillermo assured that they have also filed a complaint with the authorities.
Telemundo 48 asked the San José police about this case and they told us that they received the complaint in December of last year, that they carried out an investigation, but all leads were exhausted, so they will follow up if they receive new details. .
For their part, Guillermo and his wife clarify the method to not be fooled.
“On TikTok, on Instagram, we have our link so they can make their own appointment, but only once a month the appointments come out on the last Monday of each month at 5:00 pm, we only ask for $50, no more money,” he stated. Elizabeth Pérez de Anda, wife of Guillermo Olmedo.
Also remember that it is important that you report these fraudulent pages with the same social network and that it does not matter if it is little money, always report it to the police.
