Filipinas in Southeast Asia warned vs 'Customs scam'

The Philippine Embassy in Malaysia has warned Filipinos, particularly those working and residing in Southeast Asia, of an alleged customs scam targeting women with stable jobs in reputable companies. An embassy report said the scam allegedly involves promises of securing a valuable package in exchange for remitting money to the perpetrators. A recent victim is a Filipina construction project secretary in Brunei who met a certain British national named Hans Owen through the internet. Owen, who later became her fiancé, allegedly sent her a “valuable package" that purportedly required customs clearance during a stopover in Malaysia. Owen reportedly told the Filipina to remit $9,200 through Western Union to a certain Nasir Eric, allegedly a resident of Bandar Baru in the Kuala Lumpur suburb of Ampang. The money was sent in two tranches, one on June 17 and another on June 18. She also reportedly sent £780 to Owen on June 25. “Not suprsingly, no package arrived and the Filipina has not heard from either man or recovered her money," the embassy said. Embassy officials reported the case to the Interpol section of the Malaysian Police and is continuously following up on the case. Earlier, a group of four Nigerians and two Malaysians, allegedly involved in the scam, were arrested after a woman senior executive in Penang, Malaysia reported them. The victim reportedly responded to an email message that she would receive a valuable package if she assisted the Nigerians in settling some tax payments and other formalities before the customs department can clear the goods. She later reported to the police that she allegedly lost Malaysian Ringgit (RM) 30,000 or about $9,375 to the syndicate. The police arrested the four Nigerians, who are holders of Malaysian student visas. The two Malaysians arrested with them were said to be the “dummies" tapped to open local bank accounts to facilitate the scam. The Malaysian police is investigating the group’s possible links to other syndicates operating in the country. –VVP, GMANews.TV