The Bureau of Customs INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Thursday warned the public against sham e-mails purportedly on behalf of the agency that ask shipment consignees to deposit money for the release of their package.
Dubbed as “Love Scam,” BOC said such e-mails instruct the consignee to deposit money to a bank or money remittance outlet as payment for their freight.
One of the fake e-mails released by BOC asks the consignee to pay P10,700 for customs processing fee, customs administrative fee, and customs clearance fee.
The e-mail was sent by “boccarephilgvt@tech-center.com” under the name “Danica Mae Chavez.”
But the customs bureau said the e-mail account is not BOC’s official account, and that Chavez is not their employee.
“Binabayaran ang Customs duties and taxes sa Authorized Agent Bank (AAB). Hindi ito pinapadeposito sa personal bank account o pinapadala through money remittance,” BOC said in an advisory.
(Customs duties and taxes are paid through Authorized Agent Banks. Payments are not deposited to personal bank accounts or paid through money remittance centers.)
https://twitter.com/CustomsPH/status/1121346221463879685
Should anyone receive such dubious e-mail, BOC urged the public to report it to their hotline, (02) 705-6000, or official e-mail address, boc.cares@customs.gov.ph. /kga