Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Jaime Morente warned anew of scammers on Facebook posing as employees of the Bureau.
In a statement, Morente said that his office has received reports of pseudo-employees offering assistance for overseas workers to illegally depart for Japan and the Middle East.
“In one report, the scammers used the social media photos of one of our alien control officers to create a fake account, and offer his services in several Facebook groups online,” said Morente.
The scammer reportedly took a total of P670,000 from several victims.
Morente encouraged victims to immediately report any scamming attempt to local law enforcement authorities.
“Do not transact with these scammers who use the name of the Bureau for their illegal activities,” said Morente. “We do not condone such, and advice the public to report any attempts to local authorities as this is a type of scamming and cybercrime,” he added.
Meanwhile, Morente addressed a viral Tiktok video encouraging Filipinos who wish to teach in Thailand to lie to immigration officers to be able to work abroad without the necessary documentation.
“The laws are in place for your protection,” said Morente. “Circumventing the law only puts you in danger, increasing your vulnerability to exploitation abroad,” he warned.
BI warns anew of fake employees offering services on Facebook
Morente said that aspiring overseas Filipino workers are required to secure the necessary permits from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, which they would then present upon departure.
Meanwhile, BI has prepared a rapid response team on standby to augment its operations amidst a surge in the number of its officers affected by Covid-19.
“These back-up officers will serve as augmentation to render primary inspection duties as some of our frontliners are on quarantine and battling Covid-19,” said Morente.
The augmentation team is composed of officers and acting immigration officers assigned in different back-end offices of its Port Operations Division (POD) as well as its main office and other offices in the metro.
Their NAIA operations also recorded a total of 180 officers in quarantine for being exposed to Covid-positive cases.
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