MANILA, Philippines – The U.S. Embassy warned the public, particularly visa applicants, against receiving fraudulent emails and messages asking for payment or money.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Embassy issued the warning, saying scammers often pretend to be U.S. government employees aiming to “trick” applicants into sending money or payment for visa applications.
“The U.S. Embassy in the Philippines is issuing a warning about fraudulent emails and messages sent to visa applicants. Scammers often pretend to be U.S. government employees to trick applicants into sending them money,” the statement read.
The Embassy also stressed that email addresses used to communicate with the public end in “@state.gov” or the “[email protected]” address and that they never directly communicate with applicants about a specific case from any other email address, social media, or other messaging platforms such as Facebook, Viber or WhatsApp.
Payment for visa are initiated through the travel.state.gov for immigrant visas or the ustraveldocs.com for nonimmigrant visas portals, the US Embassy explained.
“The Embassy never requests a visa payment via email, phone, social media or messaging application,” the statement said.
Payments can be made online within the portal, or with cash at any RCBC branch after creating an account, it stated.
The U.S. Embassy encourages applicants to use the information on its official website at ph.usembassy.gov/visas, to help safeguard information and avoid becoming a victim.
Applicants must also follow the payment steps on the website only, while other sources are not valid or legitimate.
If any applicant suspects that they are being misled or taken advantage of, this can be reported to [email protected].
