Commissioner Norman Tansingco of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) has warned the public anew about scammers who exploit the agency's name to swindle money from individuals.

This warning came after the bureau received a request for verification from a Filipina whose American partner was allegedly detained at the airport on 15 May.

The American partner was allegedly given an order to pay P40,000 as a penalty for entering the country with undocumented foreign currency discovered in his suitcase, which exceeds the legal limit.

Tansingco shared that earlier this month, the BI had already received a request for verification from a Filipina whose alleged Korean partner was arrested at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) under the same conditions. A fake BI Facebook account sent a message to the Filipina demanding US$350 in fines.

The BI chief clarified that since the bureau does not handle incoming currency or luggage, the purported order is a scam.

Tansingco was pleased that there is now more awareness and that people are stepping forward to verify payment demands.

He added that verification requests can now be addressed to the BI's official Facebook account at Facebook.com/officialbureauofimmigration or contacted via its hotline at +63284652400 for any suspected fraud using the name of the agency.