Senators Pia Cayetano and Joel Villanueva on Tuesday, Nov. 22, denounced the proliferation of fraudulent websites that pose as official government websites for the downloading of the electronic arrival registration cards.
Photo from Senate
Cayetano, in a privilege speech, said fake websites charge a certain amount for the downloading of eArrival cards when it should be for free.
According to Villanueva, the one health pass scam has been going on since March 2022 or possibly earlier based on an advisory issued by the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco which warned about the scam.
He said Singapore had established an anti-scam center in 2019 and recovered more than $200 million.
“I just hope that there would be safeguards that will be in place to protect our travelers from similar fraudulent activities in the future. We understand the necessity of putting utmost priority on our citizen’s health, especially since we still have Covid-19, but we must also be determined to prevent people from being exposed to this other kind of evil virus – one that costs them their invaluable right to data privacy, makes them lose their hard-earned money, and causes unnecessary stress and inconvenience,” Villanueva said.
Cayetano, meanwhile, condemn the people behind the fake websites that have been victimizing many travelers. She presented a powerpoint presentation showing the site ‘https://www.ph-entryform.com’ that will lead travelers to a website called Philippine eArrival Card.
The website will allow them to register and eventually will ask a payment via credit card or debit card transaction.
“I have reached out to Google and reported this. I also made representation that this is damaging to our reputation and also damaging to the pockets of our fellow Filipinos and foreigners who would be victims of this scam,” Cayetano said.
“The purpose of this speech is to bring it to the attention of our colleagues and to bring it to the attention of the public,” she added.
Cayetano reiterated her warning to anyone who would go to the Philippines, whether overseas Filipino workers or foreigners, that e-card registration is free.
