INQUIRER file photo / ALEXIS CORPUZ
Scammers are using social media and messaging platforms to dupe foreigners who are willing to pay a hefty fee just to get their names stricken off the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) blacklist.
“We have observed that this scam proliferates not only on Facebook, but also in other messaging platforms such as WeChat,” Immigration Commissioner Norman Tansingco said in a statement on Thursday.
Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order chair Ka Kuen Chua earlier told the Senate public order and dangerous drug committee during a hearing that there had been offers on social media charging anywhere between P1 million and P5 million to lift immigration blacklists. Tansingco denied this, saying it was the work of scammers.
“There are even some accounts that pretend to be immigration lawyers and legal officers. They create profiles using photos of our employees, their badges, or even the logo of the bureau,” he added.
He said that the bureau had issued a similar warning in September following reports on social media about some employees offering illegal immigration services.
“This is a recurring scam that pops up every now and then,” Tansingco said as he warned the public against being fooled.
Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval, in a television interview, said that the BI had not observed any irregularities in the inclusion or removal of names from its blacklist.
According to her, there were millions of foreign nationals on the list for different immigration violations, including overstaying and indigency.
The BI advised the public to immediately report online scams either to the bureau or to other law enforcement agencies.