USING the Bureau of Customs (BoC) as conduit, so-called online “love scammers” are again back in business to extort money from unsuspecting Filipino men and women who are searching for foreign partners. From January to September 2017, the BoC’s help desk received a total of 1,263 reports and inquiries on various online scams. The alleged BoC official would even provide details of the breakdown of Customs duties and taxes as proof. The scammers used non-existent couriers like SpeedEx Cargo, Speed Cargo, Global Express Cargo, Skyline Delivery Express, Express Cargo, Blue Express, Airtrack Cargo, United Global, Alpha Blink, Sky Express, Quick Cargo, Oceanic Delivery, ABC Cargo, Unifed, Link Up Freight, ECC Cargo, ACC Cargo and Union Cargo. Victims of online scams are also advised to report the incidents to the cybercrime divisions of the Philippine National Police or National Bureau of Investigation.

Source: Manila Times October 22, 2017 17:15 UTC