Pinoys warned against new variant of Nigerian scam

MANILA, Philippines - Jobseekers, beware of another scam promising non-existent jobs in Nigeria. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the new variant of the "419 scam" uses the Philippine Embassy in Nigeria's address to look more authentic. "The syndicate requires the recipient to remit money to a particular bank account in Nigeria, supposedly as payment for application fees, taxes, and other processing fees," a DFA advisory on Tuesday said. The modus operandi involves sending e-mails to unsuspecting victims promising employment in Nigeria, bank loans, lottery winnings or double-your-money schemes using Filipino names to victimize aspiring migrants. "In the latest incident involving Filipino nationals, an e-mail from a certain 'Dr Ruben S. Cruz', supposedly working at the Philippine Embassy in Nigeria, circulated asking recipients to remit US$200 to the Federal Inland Revenue Services of Nigeria in order to receive a tax certificate," the DFA added. The Philippines has not yet lifted the deployment ban to Nigeria. "The public is advised not to send any money or divulge personal information, particularly bank accounts or credit card numbers, if they received similar e-mails. The public may refer such e-mail messages to the Cybercrimes Division of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Anti-Money Laundering Council of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas," the DFA said. - Mark Joseph Ubalde, GMANews.TV