Avoid Juan Miguel Yupangco!

Hi All,

I see that Juan Miguel Yupangco advertises on many forums to attract programming project customers. You can see one of his posts at http://www.webmaster-talk.com/others-ads-offers-and-services/22332-php-mysql-programmer-delivers-quick-quality.html

This guy is not a programmer. He is a starving scammer. He has cheated me for $5000 through getacoder.com.

Something he will deliver to you will be nothing but a bunch of useless files with tones of errors and technical problems. He will not give you any valid address and phone number because he doesn't want you to be able to sue him. I have been looking for his physical address to sue him in the small claim court but was unsuccessful so far.

If you want to make sure about what I am saying, just take a look at the list of the websites that he claims are done by him. For example, you can see the www.lavalife.com among them. This guy thinks that people are stupid. LavaLife is a dating website created and managed by Microsoft. How this guy can be its programmer? It is the same with other websites he has listed like http://www.sportsline.com/ , ... .

Of course he has succeeded to cheat some people like me so far. I really was not experienced enough and didn't know how to choose a coder.

His website is www.vertigolabs.com but he has created another website at www.jayemmedia.com and keeps on working as "Jayem Media" company. His full name is Juan Miguel Yupangco.

You can also see his clients feedbacks at http://www.getacoder.com/users/oldschool/oldschool_feedback.htm.

He is a Filipino guy who lives in Canada.

Avoid this guy.

very bad that kind of people...

I think I send an email to the ING bank (its a dutch company), I'm sure they didn't like that is using their website as a reference.

thanks for the warning. (I'm happy that I'm a programmer and don't need that kind of people / services ;))

Vahid I meant to ask why did you pay $5000?
with that sort of money it should never be upfront and indeed it must have been a large project so why leave it to one person, I'm not disputing the amount or that the person is a fraud I'm just wondering how you were conned so badly maybe it will help others to avoid such scams.

Sending 5000$ without having the way to find out who you are sending money to, is impossible.

How did you send that amount to this guy? Did you finally got your money back?

I think its time for another Tim's helpful tips post!

Yeah probably :)

Yes, good question.

I paid him through getacoder but I think you all know how getacoder works. When you choose a coder and grant a project to him, you should escrow the money and when the project is done, you should release it and so the coder will receive the money from getacoder.

When I was fooled by him and three projects were granted to him, he told me that he can not wait for the projects to become finished and he wants to receive the money in installments because he has expenses and ... .

As I wanted to show a good faith I accepted and so escrowed the price of each project in different installments. They were three big projects and when he showed me that some parts of the projects are done, I paid an installment. I wanted him to work with peace of mind and know that I am behind him and will support him financially but he betrayed my trust. I paid him some installment that the total some of them become over $5000.

Please read the answer I wrote to entureskills.

He works through getacoder and rentacoder and such websites. These websites are really terrible. If you release the money, it will be too late and you can not do anything. By releasing the money you confirmed that the project is done and you have to do that when the coder shows the completed demo. Do you really know that what you will receive after that? and are you sure that the coder will support you and will fix the errors and bugs.

I guess the rather nasty lesson here, is to make sure you are dealing with legit people, it sounds like you were a little naive no one person should be on a $5k(programming) project on their own, at that sort of level you should be talking a team which includes an analyst, programmers and project manager.

Can you give us rough details of the project, did he quote the price? or did you work out the valuation?

Isn't there any legal action to take?

$5k is not a sum to let it go

I have been talking to Vahild on a different forum same conversation, basically he is finding it difficult to get a physical address for the guy, he has looked at the whois document for the domains which (vahild) believes are fake, the suggestion was to contact the host, since he is presumably paying his bill, they will have a credit card, and falsifying a whois document is illegal in Canada where he is, the host is legally required to report such information, if they include Vahild as the informant then he can probably get an address that way, and try through the small claims court.

What about the freelance company?

Can they help? In most countries a scam like this would involve their name too.

rentacoder and the like wash there hands claiming just be a middle man, from what I can tell Vahild was partly naive, didn't check references correctly and unlucky. Though its normal practice to pay a retainer upfront this should be the "costs" to prevent this sort of asking for more and more, I would like to know what sort of project it was and who worked out the figures.

In getacoder, coders give the price. And he introduced himself as the head of a programming team.

I granted three projects to him. One was an especial kind of web directory. The other one was a web traffic analysis script and the last one was a web search service like FreeFind.com.

I explained that I sent it through getacoder.com. I have not received my money back and I think I will never receive.

In getacoder or rentacoder, you will not know who the coder is. They can be in different countries like India. When I saw this guy is from Canada, I become happier because I thought we can communicate easier and I felt more safety. I didn't know that he will cheat me.

You can not sue someone that you don't have any physical address from him/her. That's why he never gave me any address. On the other hand, you can never find any photo from him. He is the member of several forums but has never uploaded any photo.

Probably he uses a stolen credit card to pay or a prepaid debit card. These people think about everything and don't let you locate them so easily. Someone told me that even "Juan Miguel Yupangco" is a stolen identity. He can be right.

Getacoder has a TOS which says you have to make sure that the project is done correctly before you release the money. After releasing it is too late to claim that there are problems and the projects are not done. My problem was that I had paid in installments and all the $5000 was paid before the projects become completed. So I could not claim that the projects are not done correctly because I had released the money.

I admit that it was all my fault and I had to be more careful BUT he was a crook and cheated. I have been working with another coder from Romania for more than one year. He is really nice, professional, kind and honest. I am so happy working with him. I want to say that you never know how a cheater will cheat you. You trust people and just some of them are cheaters.

what a shame...

just let me know if you need help here from the philippines with your pursuit with that guy, if he is really a filipino, im really embarrased.

maybe you should tell Getacoder about this scam that he het blocked ffrom their website (I think the worst thing for a website like Getacoder is that poeple think that there are scammers arround)

Thanks my friend. I will let you know if I need any help. Yes he really is a Filipino. I met him a couple of times.

Of course, such people can be found in all nations. I disclosed his nationality just to give more clue about him and help others to know him easier in case they want to grant him any project. Because he will intorduce himself with other names. I am sure he still works though getacoder using a different ID and identity.

Maybe you Vbignacio can help you somehow. He is from Philippines too, and he is a great guy ;)

Make sure you get coders that are trustworthy next time, and theres lots of coders and designers here at webdigity too. Hey, this gives me an Idea, Nik! why dont we start a WebDigity Designers and Developers Group, so if a project is approached for WebDigity, we can collaborate on making it happen... What do you think guys/gals?

I like that idea, designer. Nikolas, this is a idea I could support wholeheartedly!

You mean a designer/developer group in some of these sites? Is that possible?

i think what he means is if for example WhiteEagle is looking for a copywriter, a designer, a developer and se optimizer for a new site of his, you guys would gang up on him. LOL just kidding...

I mean WebDigity could accept jobs as an entity, then a "Webdigity Designers and Developers Group" would then be available, members of this group could then choose the members who are available and best matches the needs of the webdigity client, each of them would get equal parts on the fees charge, and WebDigity the Site could get a Cut too... But we must outline the qualifications for each member... It's like a privilege group...

Sounds like a cool idea. The problem is that it risks our name. I mean what happens if someone from the group fails a client, or don't pay for a project that he/she buys?

Later when the community will populate more, we could create a better - more automated - marketplace with privileges like those you mention in order to help those who buy and sell in marketplaces (as most marketplaces don't give any real protection to both sides)

On the group thing, it requires that members on the privilege group is chosen well... So there are no unprofessional people, and then we let the client know who is working on which feature etc... and there will be an assigned foreman of some sort... The problem would then be on the Client, to ensure full payment, we will ask for more information from him, and ask for a 50% upfront which is reasonable...

To be honest I am afraid of this. I mean that this can cause problems in our friendships here.

For instance who is choosing who is going to take a job and who isn't? No matter who is, it will be difficult for members to use of it. Some may think that there is unfair treatment on them etc.

Well, we can make standards, and members will only know if they get invited to the inner circle which they may accept or deny... and the members would be from nomination, if they think a member is trustworthy enough the username is submitted to the group for review and investigation. After that if he is found fit for the Group he is invited...

or Nik, you can setup a list of members with services offered, like a roster of professionals the would-be clients could contact on their own, if you are protective of Webdigity's name. of course, those you would list there should've established a reputation with you already.

That's a great idea vbignacio. I guess it will take time to start it (as it requires a lot of coding) but I will add it to the "to do" list :)