Mobile phone apps are not only making shopping convenient. These gadget software also make investing easy.

IT specialist Genlor Obdianela tried investing in the local real estate crowdfunding platform Flint to grow his money, as it promised high returns. He used Flint's digital wallet app to deposit an initial P50,000 in January and got a P20,000 payout.

Enticed by the profit, Obdianela invested more, ignoring the Securities and Exchange Commission warning that Flint was not registered with the agency. After he received another payout in May from a bigger cash investment of P230,000, the app suddenly shut down without notification.

Obdianela could no longer withdraw his P209,000 deposited in the digital wallet, GMA News' Unang Balita reported.

Flint could not be contacted by telephone, so Obdianela went to its local address to recover his money. He was shocked to find the office bare and empty, according to Unang Balita.

The online scam victim filed a police complaint against Flint which reportedly also victimized other investors who are mostly migrant workers.

While Obdianela chose to grow his money in a high-tech manner, with tragic consequence, Mexican football fanatic Jorge Aguilar simply saved money the traditional way to pay for his trip to Qatar to watch the World Cup football tournament in the Gulf country.

Aguilar, 25, from Durango, Mexico, started saving in October 2020 and raised a total of 32,200 Mexican pesos, The Independent reported. He used it to pay for his flight to Qatar on 22 November.
Before traveling, the school teacher showed a video of the money he had saved. It went viral on social media.

The video shows Aguilar lifting a heavy water jug and pouring out all the coins inside it on top of his bed. He had managed to collect a total 1,790 10-peso coins and 2,864 5-peso coins in the past two years, according to Independent.