DFA warns OFWs vs. e-mail scams

The Department of Foreign Affairs and the Philippine Embassy in Abuja, Nigeria has called on Filipinos to beware of letter and email scams perpetrated by fraudsters.

This warning comes alongside a report by Philippine Ambassador to Spain Joseph D. Bernardo of the arrest of more than 300 people by police authorities in Costa del Sol, Malaga last July 20 on charges of swindling thousands of people out of hundreds of millions of Euros in the largest international scam ever discovered in Spain.

DFA Secretary Alberto Romulo said that most of the people arrested are foreign nationals from West Africa. Spanish authorities have accused them of defrauding tens of thousands of people of as much as 100 million euros a year by sending letters claiming that their victims had won Spain's national lottery, and that they had to send money in order to collect the prize.

"More than six million letters were sent each year, and over 20,000 people in 50 countries, principally in Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East, are believed to have been conned since the syndicate began operating in 2003, according to information gathered by the Embassy," Romulo said.

Police authorities in Spain began their operation in tracking down the syndicate in 2003 following various complaints received by the Spanish Government from diplomatic missions in Spain. The operation was led by Spanish fraud investigators in collaboration with Interpol, Europol, the FBI, and the US Postal Service.

According to the report, the Philippine Embassy in Madrid has been swamped with numerous complaints by a number of OFWs abroad and Filipinos residing in the Philippines who were victimized by the syndicate in this largest money scam. The Embassy has consistently issued the necessary advisory for all Filipinos not to be victimized by these scams.

Earlier, the Philippine Embassy in Abuja warned Filipinos against similar email and letter scams originating from Nigeria sometimes known as the "419" scam. - Jasmin R. Uy