US Embassy warns visa applicants vs. scammers

The US Embassy in Manila on Friday warned visa applicants of fraudulent emails and messages tricking them to send money. 

"Scammers often pretend to be US government employees to trick applicants into sending them money," it said in an advisory.

The Embassy reminded the public that it only communicates through email addresses that ends in “@state.gov” or the “support-philippines@usvisascheduling.com" address.

“We will never directly communicate to applicants about a specific case from any other email address, social media, or other message platforms such as Facebook, Viber, or WhatsApp,” the advisory read. 

“The Embassy never requests a visa payment via email, phone, social media, or messaging application,” it added. “All visa fee payments are initiated through the travel.state.gov (immigrant visas) or the ustraveldocs.com (nonimmigrant visas) portals.”

The Embassy also said that payments for applications can be done online within the portal, or through cash at any RCBC branches.—Vince Angelo Ferreras/AOL, GMA Integrated News