Police officials in Pasay City alerted Filipinos who are returning from abroad about a modus operandi operated near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) that targets them. They are advised to be cautious against opening the doors or windows of their vehicles to beggars or streetchildren that might approach them along the streets near NAIA to avoid being hurt or losing valuables. This modus is apparently done by a gang called “gagamba boys,” a group of males which are mostly in their teens.

According to Rodolfo Llorca, the chief Senior Superintendent of Pasay City police, a member of the gang would persistently knock or rap on the vehicles of balikbayans and when the passenger finally opened it, other gang members would proceed to take whatever valuable items that they can get. The poor victims take the risk of being hurt if they resist as there are cases when gang members hit the heads of the victims.

Llorca also said that these “gagamba boys” usually schedule their attack around 9 am because they know that this is the usual arrival time of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). It is also a time when traffic is worse so they can freely do their scam.

The Pasay police chief admitted that they are having a difficult time stopping this modus because they cannot arrest the gang members which are mostly minors. They can only turn them over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which would also release them after a few hours or a few days.

An advisory from the POEA warns nurses and other medical workers against the proliferation of overseas job scams that are being offered via email. Previous advisories from POEA informed that there are email scams that offer non-existent jobs for medical workers in countries like Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and United States of America.

To lure nurses and caregivers, Cacdac said that in the past emails, the scammers are using the names of famous hospitals overseas such as Queensway Carleton Hospital, Stevenson Memorial Hospital, Shouldice Hospital, and Fraser Health in  Canada; Sydney Adventist Hospital in Australia. The latest advisory revealed that email scams are also offering jobs in Singapore.

The POEA Chief, Hans Leo J. Cacdac was informed of this new email scam through Mr. Tan Zhiyi, the Human Resource Division of Singapore General Hospital which reported that they have received a number of inquiries from Filipino workers who are verifying job offers sent through the following email addresses: singaporegenhosp@zoho.com, singaporegeneralhosp @ojooo.com and singaporegenhosp@hush.com.

According to Cacdac, Tan said that they are not using the email addresses mentioned because their official emails use the internet address sgh.com.sg.

In the said email, the recipient are asked to send Php3,800 through bank deposit as payment for the visa interview. The Singapore-based official also denied that their company owns the bank account mentioned in the email.

Read more news about Filipino nurses here. 

Filipinos working in Hong Kong are warned against a Hong-Kong based recruitment agency  that is offering employment opportunities to Cyprus and other third-country destinations such as such USA, Canada, Russia, United Kingdom, Chile, Czech Republic and others.

A news article that appeared in the official website of the DFA said, “The Consulate has received reports that a certain agency continues to recruit Filipino nationals in Hong Kong and the Philippines for fictitious jobs in Cyprus and other third country destinations.”

Filipino workers are also advised to always check if the job offer is currently in-demand in the country of destination. They can do this by logging on to www.philcongen-hk.com. They should also verify the validity of an employment offer at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO).

Filipinos abroad who are looking for a cargo forwarder to deliver their balikbayan boxes to their loved ones back home should make sure that they are dealing with a reputable company.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently put cargo forwarding companies in its blacklisted list due to complaints of missing cargoes. The DTI even requested the assistance ofPhilippineembassies worldwideto sharethe warning to more Filipino migrants.

The Information Officer of DTI Region 1, Amelia Galvez said,“This is to help overseas Filipino workers (OFW) that the packages they ship to their families and relatives in thePhilippineswill be delivered on-time and safely.”

Check the list of unaccredited foreign consolidators and cargo forwarders that were blacklisted by the government agency.

How To Avoid Investment Scam

Check the authenticity of the company or the recruiter-  If  the company or the group cannot present authentication from SEC or the Bureau of Internal Revenues (BIR), they are most likely illegal.

Check the product and the services- The product and services of a company is legalized and authenticated by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) and SEC. You can also try the product for yourself if it is real or fake.

Do not give your trust easily- Do not give your trust easily and make your own research before you give money. Also, to make sure that it is not a scam, inquire if you can visit the company and try their products to ensure their authenticity.

Observe- Observe the way they talk and their business proposals. The way they converse and their body contact can give you a hint if a person is sincere or just letting you bite their offer.

Be suspicious of e-mail and text alerts- Oftentimes, you receive spam alert through your email that asks you to join a group. You can also receive text messages saying that you won in a certain contest or if you can join them in their lucrative business offer.

Be wise and don’t be a victim of different scams targeting OFWs.

Read more information about Scam Alert for OFWs.