by: Maria Theresa S. Samante, Nov 29, 2007

The general public, especially overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are being warned about the new text scam allegedly sponsored by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). The scammers will notify the prospective victim that they won a total of P2 million based on the last digits of their mobile phone in an electronic raffle draw conducted by BSP.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a public announcement due to the report sent by Philippine Ambassador to Brazil Teresita V. G. Barsana that an OFW in Brasilia received a fraud text message from a contact number 639283948881 who used a name of “BSP Governor Artemio Tetangco.”

According to the report submitted by the Ambassador, the OFW called the sender’s number and was able to talk with a man who introduced himself as “Gov. Tetangco” and confirmed the existence of the raffle. The man also said that the raffle was authorized by the Office of the President.

The man instructed the OFW to remit a certain amount to a designated recipient through Western Union for tax payments and transmittal charges in claiming the prize money. And afterwards contact another person under the name of “Atty. P.D. Ilagan” with mobile number 639157029178 who was said to be the manager if the Western Union in Makati City. Said “Atty. Ilagan” will provide the pin code once she has completed the remittance.

Just like other text scam that has fooled lots of Filipinos, this scam also uses the same tricks in which the swindlers send messages to their victims and accept calls to the mobile numbers they gave. They will ask the unsuspecting victim to transfer money by wire for “processing fee.”

According to the advisory issued by the BSP, they are not participating in such games or raffles.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs advises overseas Filipinos to refrain from responding to similar text messages, and to immediately report such cases to the nearest Philippine Embassy or Consulate General,” the statement read.

Source: www.ofwguide.com