Immigration bureau warns public vs. 'online love scams'

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) on Wednesday renewed its warning to the public against "online love scams" amid reports that a criminal syndicate is targeting Filipinas again.

The bureau urged Filipinos expecting guests from abroad to know the visitor's flight details if they find themselves in situations where scammers would pose as immigration officers demanding money to get the supposed foreigner out of trouble.

"Immigration officers are not authorized to make the first contact to non-passengers during their tour of duty. It is even more illegal to demand money from anyone," BI spokeswoman Dana Sandoval said in a statement.

Sandoval described the criminal scheme as involving supposed foreigners who would befriend and eventually court Filipinas they meet online, even sending gifts to earn their trust.

The scammers would then allegedly arrange meet-ups. Upon the supposed arrival, the victim would be called by a person pretending to be an immigration officer and claiming the expected guest needs to be bailed out of trouble.

"After sending the amount, the victim loses contact with said foreigner," Sandoval said.

In a recent case, the bureau learned that a victim paid P18,000 to a supposed syndicate for the release of a foreign national who turned out to be non-existent, she said.

Another woman allegedly paid P40,000 to a scammer and only started doubting when she was asked for P60,000 more, Sandoval recounted.

Sandoval said the supposed syndicate initially targeted persons from Cebu, transferred operations to Manila, but stopped when the scheme was reported in 2015. She added that recent victims again hail from Cebu.

The bureau said it only holds custody of arriving foreigners when they are denied entry. If excluded from the country, one is sent back to their port of origin on the next available flight.

"As these fraudulent activities are becoming noticeably numerous, the BI strongly warns the public of such motives, especially from Internet acquaintances," Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said in the release.

“Exercise vigilance to avoid being victimized,” he said.

The bureau also advised the public to call its hotline — (02) 465-2400 — or contact the immigration office in the airport involved.  —KBK, GMA News