By Christine Fabro
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) warned the public against scammers using the name of the agency to dupe people.
This after the BI received a report about an Australian who asked the assistance of the immigration as his Filipina friend was allegedly held off at the Clark International Airport (CIA) for smuggling 18 kilograms (kg) of Alluvial Gold bars.
“In the letter, it was cited that “Victoria” was being held for lacking documents to travel with gold minerals, and so the Australian is demanded to pay USD 4,000 to secure an “ownership certificate” for her,” the BI said.
BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco clarified that the Immigration bureau is not the government agency responsible for inspecting the luggage of traveling passengers.
He also noted that BI agents are not authorized to receive money through wire transfers for immigration processes.
“These fraudsters even had the audacity to use my name and forge my signature, in a document that was not even written well,” Tansingco said.
“It’s the same story over and over again for these scammers, but this time they are targeting foreign nationals using Filipinos. Do not be victimized by these criminals,” he warned. – gb