THE Bureau of Immigration (BI) warned potential overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) of an ongoing modus of an extortionist pretending to be an immigration officer.
It was learned that the BI received a complaint sometime in December regarding a female Filipino worker who wanted to depart to Dubai under a tourist visa, but was intercepted at the airport.
An immigration officer who introduced himself as ‘James’ approached her and offered to escort her for a fee. The BI said in a statement that they have no such employee.
The complainant claimed that ‘James’ claimed that he was assigned as an immigration officer at the Ninoy Aquino International and had the capacity to allow her departure.
She then initially transferred to the suspect P7,000 through GCash and P28,500 through bank transfer. Later, she again transferred P39,500 upping her total transfer to P75,000.
The victim then attempted to depart but was intercepted again at the airport.
Losing hope of ever being able to leave, the victim tried to ask for her money back from the suspect but the latter made excuses about it.
The BI denied having such employee and sought the help of government intelligence agencies as well as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in pursuing the case against the fixer.
