Officials of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) cautioned the public against scammers offering fake entry permits to foreigners on Facebook.
BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said that the alert followed after they received a complaint against a netizen who offered entry permits to the country to several foreign victims.
According to Morente, one of the victims was later asked by the netizen to contact an alleged immigration officer who would supposedly ensure the smooth entry of foreigners in exchange for grease money.
The BI records, however, showed that the supposed immigration officer is not an employee of the agency.
Morente then expressed his dismay towards the modus. “There is no such service. We believe that these scammers prey on the people they see on Facebook,” Morente shared. “It is disconcerting to know that there are still those who can take advantage of the vulnerable even during a pandemic,” he added.
At present, only Filipinos, foreign spouses and children of Filipinos, foreign parents of Filipino minors, and foreigners holding immigrant and non-immigrant visas are allowed entry in the Philippines. The entry of tourists to the country remain restricted.
Entry exemption documents (EED) are issued by foreign posts abroad to foreigners who wish to enter the country with tourist visas.
BI warns of scammers offering fake entry permits on social media
In June, BI also warned the public about a returning modus of scammers pretending to be immigration officials.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Jaime Morente stated that he received reports of scammers targeting heads of BI’s provincial offices.
“These scammers would call up the office and pretend to be from the BI’s top management, often requesting cellphone load and other small favors,” he stated.
The scammer would call BI offices through their landlines, and request for the “head of office”. Once through, they would pretend to be a top BI official, and claim that they would be visiting the area. “The scammer would then start demanding favors, including sending load to his mobile number,” he added. “What these scammers don’t realize is that our office heads are immigration officers, hence they have been trained to spot inconsistencies and conduct verifications,” he shared.
Morente recounted that said modus is a recurring scheme, often targeting newly-appointed office heads of the Bureau.
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