Searching for true love isn’t always rainbows and smiles.
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) today warned the public against online suitors who woo Filipino women then ghost them after their accomplices swindle them of their money.
According to BI’s spokesperson Dana Sandoval, these scammers court Filipino women whom they meet online, reported The Philippine Daily Inquirer. These swindlers would woo these women and would even send gifts to earn their trust.
After communicating for some time, the foreign men would tell their Filipino victims that they’ll come to the country for a visit, GMA News reported. However, on the expected date of arrival, a person pretending to be an officer of the BI would call the women and tell them that their suitors have arrived but are in trouble for certain reasons. These fake BI officers would then ask the victims to send money to bail the boyfriends out.
After the victims have sent the amount, they would lose contact with the foreigner, Sandoval said.
Sandoval said that the syndicate often targets women living in Cebu, ABS-CBN News reported. The scam has been ongoing for years but stopped temporarily after it became public in 2015 when it was exposed by the media.
But as it turns out, the scam is back. The immigration agency learned on Monday that a victim paid PHP18,000 (US$341) to bail out a foreigner whom the BI said does not even exist.
Another victim ended up paying PHP40,000 (US$757) but became suspicious when she was asked to send PHP60,000 (US$1,136) more.
Sandoval told the public to be vigilant and that it’s actually illegal for BI officers to ask money from travelers. Foreigners who are barred from entering the Philippines are sent to their port of origin on the next outbound flight.
The BI advised the public to call (02) 465-2400 to report anyone who appears to be part of the scam.
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