Isiniwalat ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) nitong Martes ang mga uri umano ng passport appointment scam gamit ang Facebook para mabigyan ng babala ang publiko.
Sa pagdinig ng House Committee on Foreign Affairs, inihayag ni Foreign Undersecretary Joel Montales ang mga ginagawa ng ahensiya para matugunan ang mga problema sa pagkuha ng appointment slot sa pagkuha ng pasaporte.
Sinabi pa niya na lumabas sa paunang imbestigasyon ng National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) at Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Anti-Cybercrime Group, na may mga gumagamit ng Facebook para makapanloko.
"The first type is a pure scam. They fill up an application form for the applicant, put a false bar code... to give an impression that the applicant has duly submitted the application," paliwanag niya.
Ang ikalawang uri naman umano ng panloloko ay ginagamit naman ang courtesy lane.
"For example, senior citizen is approached by a swindler. Applicant is referred to a courtesy lane and is accommodated. We added a pop-up in our appointment site. If an applicant would visit our site, they will see if they are entitled to courtesy lane or not," patuloy ng opisyal.
Mayroon din umano na ang estilo ng panloloko sa Facebook ay makakuha ng kanilang biktima na padadaanin din sa courtesy lane sa pamamamagitan ng pagpapakita ng mga tunay at huwad na dokumento.
"As a courtesy and by way of accommodation, DFA has been approving endorsements coming from different government agencies," sabi ni Montales.
"We've seen falsified endorsements and we've received information that applicants get authentic endorsements for a fee. So in other words, some people are selling endorsements for government agencies. That's the sad reality," patuloy niya.
Mayroon din umanong gumagamit ng Facebook ay kunwaring ikukuha naman ng online appointment slot kahit hindi naman talaga nakareserba sa biktima.
"All these Facebook pages employ a similar marketing scheme. They make it appear that they can get appointments at will or that they have reserved slots which they can sell to the public," sabi ng opisyal.
Tiniyak ni Montales na gumagawa ng paraan ang DFA para matigil ang mga panloloko, at paghahanap ng paraan upang mapabilis ang sistema sa pagkuha ng pasaporte.
Umaasa ang opisyal na matatapos ng NBI at CIDG ang kanilang imbestigasyon sa lalong madaling panahon.
"In the meantime, we ask the public's patience and cooperation. Please do not patronize these Facebook pages claiming to have slots and selling them. Many of them are scams and others are open invitations to corrupt government employees and cast doubt on our online appointment system," pakiusap ni Montales. —FRJ, GMA News
