THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) on Saturday warned the public against unscrupulous persons pretending to be from the BOC asking for payment of taxes and fees to be paid via virtual wallet GCash or bank transfer.

The BOC reminded that it does not collect customs duties and taxes payments using personal accounts or through remittance centers.

“BOC officials, including the BOC Customer Assistance and Response Services, do not directly communicate with parcel recipients via phone call, text message, or email to inform them or ask them to pay via bank deposit or money transfer for parcels to be released,” the BOC said.

A “fake” letter with the BOC logo was addressed to an office supply company, dated Dec. 4, 2022, asking for the payment of taxes and fees (processing, branding and clearance/documents/file compilation) amounting to P128,585.45 through GCash or bank transfer for the release of 35 laptops.

The letter was supposedly a “certified true copy” signed by a certain “Raquel de Jesus” of the BOC-Central Records Management Division and former commissioner Rey Guerrero.

Scams may be reported to landline number (02)8705-6000 or to the official BOC social media accounts: @BureauOfCustomsPH (Facebook), @customs.ph (Instagram and Twitter), and @Bureau of Customs PH (Viber).

An email may also be sent to [email protected]. Philippine News Agency

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