CEBU
CITY, February 24 (PIA) –The Bureau of Immigration (BI) warns the
public against extortion done through telephone calls allegedly from BI
officials for the “release” of a foreign national friend of the
would-be-victim.
Immigration
Commissioner Siegfred Mison said the usual victims are Filipinos who have gain
friendship with foreigners through the internet. The supposed foreign national,
who in reality is part of a syndicate will arrange for a meeting with the
Filipino would-be-victim and make it appear that he or she will be arriving in
the Philippines at a given date, explained Mison.
The Filipino
would-be-victim during the supposed arrival date would receive a telephone call
from someone who claims to be an officer of the BI and demands money to
“release” the foreign national from custody. The Filipino would immediately
remit the money but never gets to see the foreign national acquaintance, said
Mison.
“Please be advised
that immigration officers at the airport are not authorized to make the first
contact with non-passengers. It is even more illegal to demand for money from
anyone,” said Mison.
“We advise our
Filipino kababayans to exercise vigilance with their internet
acquaintances to avoid being victimized by scammers,” further said Mison.
As a rule, the BI does
not hold custody of arriving passengers unless they have been excluded for
reasons enumerated in section 29 of the Philippine Immigration Act. In the
latter case, the passenger is sent back to the port of origin on the next
available outbound flight.
“Excluded passengers
are informed of the reason for their exclusion and in such case they may demand
a copy of the exclusion order. They will not be prohibited from making a call
to their friends in order to seek assistance,” said Mison.
The BI chief said
Filipinos with expected guests from another country who get in the same situation
are advised to know the exact airport location and flight number of the
passenger in order to verify the truthfulness of the claim.
Mison advised the
public to call their hotline number at (02) 465-2400 to check if a certain
passenger is actually in our custody at any of our airports. (mbcn/fcr/pia7)