MANILA, 6 August 2005 — Officials have warned Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families against text scams defrauding unsuspecting victims of their hard-earned money.

Three people have so far been arrested on suspicion that they were working for organized syndicates using various methods in swindling victims, the departments of foreign affairs (DFA) and labor (DOLE) said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and Labor Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas issued separate warnings after the resurgence of text scams, which misuse the names of Malaca?ang Palace and the Philippine central bank (BSP).

The modus operandi varies from place to place, according to the officials.

In one incident cited in Metro Manila, a text message to the wife of an OFW said: “Congratulations! You just won 1 million pesos in a raffle draw sponsored by the Tulong sa Kapwa Foundation under the Office of Malaca?ang. Call this number in 10 minutes. DTI # 023 Series 05-002.”

Calling the number of the message sender, a glib-tongued man having a thick Visayan accent who claims he is a lawyer asked the OFWs wife to give her full name, date of birth, complete address and bank account number allegedly “for verification.”

The supposed lawyer then asks the wife to deposit an advance 10 percent of 1 million pesos for tax deduction.

Another text message sent to a victim in Cagayan de Oro City said: “You are the lucky lottery winner of P5 million. Please go the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas ASAP to claim your prize. “

When the victim responded, she was instructed to send P5,000 to a bank account for supposed to be payment of phone loads used by the sender to the victim. Then, she was also instructed to make an advance payment for paper processing while she is on her way to the central bank in Manila. The victim borrowed money to be able to do all of what was instructed of her, only to find out upon reaching the BSP office after a long travel that it was a fraud.

Based on another modus operandi of the syndicate, unsuspecting victims are informed that they had won in a fictitious BSP raffle in an attempt to lure them to purchase phone cards or deposit their money in a certain bank account as taxes and other expenses.

The culprits reportedly go as far as using the names of other institutions such as the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) or the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).

A typical text scam message reportedly reads: “Congrats... (you) won 2 million during a special public raffle fr. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” and then directs the recipient to a particular BSP telephone number.

Should the victims only checked with the Department of Trade Industry (DTI), they will find out that foundations are not registered with the DTI and are not given series numbers for their lottery activities.

Sto. Tomas said that attempts to defraud the OFWs of their hard-earned money in other incidents failed as she noted that OFWs themselves are reporting attempts to victimize them for the awareness and action of the proper authority. “We believe that OFWs’ innate smartness, values and integrity will prevent them from allowing such scams to victimize them.

Meanwhile, Romulo reported that the Spanish authorities have recently conducted a massive arrest operation involving 300 suspects, mainly from West Africa, for swindling thousands of people of hundreds of millions of euros. The DFA said it had been “swamped with numerous complaints by OFWs.”

Earlier, the Philippine government also warned of the so-called 419 international e-mail scam, following the concern raised by the media, law enforcement, and other authorities of Nigeria, a west African country, on the racket whose modus operandi involves soliciting detailed personal information for illegal transactions on a pretext of transferring funds to the victim’s bank account.