The Philippine Embassy in Thailand issued an advisory warning the Filipino community about an online scam offering passport and Thai visa processing to fellow Filipinos in exchange for large sum of money.
The alleged scammers are also Filipinos who have been asking at least 20,000 THB for visa processing and 100,000 – 130,000 THB for fixing overstayed visas. They also offer 1 year visa for at least 50,000 THB.
“The Philippine Embassy in Thailand warns the Filipino community of an online scam offering passport and Thai visa processing to fellow Filipinos in exchange for large sum of money.
Philippine Embassy Bangkok
The Embassy does not condone these illegal acts that prey on fellow Filipinos and put them in great harm.
The Embassy seeks the cooperation of the Filipino community in protecting and upholding the integrity of Philippine public documents.
Members of the Filipino community should exercise vigilance in preventing more Filipinos from becoming victims of this illegal scheme.”
One of the victims who contacted PinoyThaiyo shared that he paid 115,000 THB to another Filipino who is the admin of a large Facebook group in Thailand. The one-time payment was made on September 30, 2020 but his visa has never been processed. According to the victim, his passport is still being held by the alleged scammers and he is being threatened that they will have him arrested if he reports to the police.
The incident has already been reported to the Philippine Embassy and victims are requesting for protection and tougher actions against these alleged scammers who are also Filipinos.
The same person who is allegedly being pinpointed as the mastermind of this visa scam was arrested in 2019 by the police. He was later freed after more or less two months in jail after returning the money paid by the victims who pursued the case.
Early this year, a Filipina scammer Lenie Camacho was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for running a fraudulent FCIL business and OFW remittances amounting to more than 50 million baht. She is now serving her jail sentence at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution.
Civic and OFW group ACTION also issued a statement on its Facebook page. ACTION also encourages victims to come out and file a case.
More updates to follow.