Filipina Scammers – Filipina Dating; Filipino Women

The OFW Tourist Visa Scam

There’s a scam that I have been meaning to warn people about for quite a while but I just haven’t had the time.

I’ve had a couple guys email me asking if they are about to be conned/scammed out of money. My answer was “yes, this looks like a scam.” I don’t know how common this type of scam is, but I’m willing to write this quick post if it saves one person from being conned.

Here’s how this scam works:

A Filipina will begin an online relationship with a man from America (other nationalities may be involved–Chinese women may be doing this as well, but these specific scams involve Filipinas).

She will claim to be an OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) who is working in China.

She will chat with her potential male victim for a few days, then quickly tell him that she wants to come see him. She will then recommend an agency that can make it happen. She will also claim this agency was able to get her friend into the United States.

He contacts the agency and gets an email like this:

Thank you for your correspondence with (name of agency).

According to your request,we can provide tourist / Visit visa (Valid for One to twelve months) for travel and ticket purchased from us.

Please find below basic requirement for visa applications:

(1) Tourist/Visitors Visa (Valid for One to twelve months)

(2) Complete name and address of (Applicant’s friend, relative or family member, including the telephone number)

(3) A valid travel passport good for more than 1 yr for the person traveling

(4) 4 photograph passport sizes.

(5)$150 for the visa fees, Medical Insurance $80 and Medical Examination fees $320 and $150 for Service charge this make the total $700 USD.

(6) A valid Chinese work visa

(7) A confirmed round trip ticket purchased from Shenzhen Dynasty Travel Tours All other document required will be provided by our office

Note: A waiting period of 10(Ten) to 14(Fourteen) working days is needed to process applications.

The Current minimal travel fare for a round trip ticket from Guangzhou, China (CAN) to St. Paul, MN, United States of America (STP) is (Nine Hundred And Eighty United States Dollars) $980 USD flight carrier China Southern Airlines

RECOMMENDED: I recommend Christian Filipina for those who are serious about finding love in the Philippines.

Additional $700 Us Dollars for visa fees, medical fees, and service charge will be added to the ticket price, that will give you the total cost for this trip as 1,680 US Dollars

In order to proceed with this application, our office will require the submission of all listed documents and fees.

Should there be any assistance needed, please contact our office.

The total bill is nearly 1700 dollars. But that’s a small price to pay for meeting the woman of your dreams, right?

Look up the agency name and you’ll find an attractive website with beautiful pictures and glowing testimonies.

I don’t have time to do thorough research on this, so let’s just say there are a lot of “red flags” that come to mind:

Here’s the main issue: as I have mentioned before, I never recommend trying to use a tourist visa as a way to meet a Filipina. The US Embassy almost automatically rejects tourist visa applications by young Filipinas by default. The Embassy can “smell” these kinds of visa applications from a mile away. Tourist visas are simply very difficult to acquire for Filipinos/Filipinas unless they can prove they have substantial assets in the Philippines (a reason to return).

I don’t see how a Chinese agency would have the ability to bypass this difficulty and acquire a tourist visa from the United States Embassy.

Speaking of tourist visas, the actual application cost around a hundred bucks at the US Embassy. I have no idea where this “agency” gets these fees from.

Hopefully you can see why none of this makes sense to me. It has all the marks of a scam. A few dollars for a website an a few hours of chatting can be very profitable for con artists.

My advice: let her know you are not going to apply for this “tourist visa.” Suggest other alternatives, like coming to visit her. You’ll probably see that she loses interest pretty quickly.

I recommend finding a legitimate website for meeting Filipinas if you are really looking for love in the Philippines.

RECOMMENDED: REMITLY

Filipina Dating

I started this website quite a few years ago and I think it’s time for a bit of an update.

I want to summarize (and restate) some of the things I’ve said already in a longer, more comprehensive post.

Here’s your ultimate guide to Filipina dating. I’ll share the step you should consider if you plan to meet a woman from the Philippines online.

Step 1: Choose a Good Website

I would personally recommend Christian Filipina because I’ve communicated with the creator/owner of the website and he’s a good guy. I think he really does his best to make sure that members have a good experience. I also believe the name and theme of this particular site tends to draw the kind of woman you want: a conservative, God-fearing Filipina.

I don’t believe I ever encountered a scammer on Christian Filipina back when I was still searching for love. Having said that, you will have to take some cautionary steps regardless of what website you use. That brings me to my next step.

Step 2: Watch for Scammers

You’ll hear a lot about Pinay scammers of you search about Filipna dating on Google or YouTube. Some make too much of this phenomenon; others make too little of it. The bottom line is that part of your task will be to weed out those who are misrepresenting themselves (usually for the sake of financial gain). It isn’t that difficult if you’ll just do a few things:

*Do a little social media background check on the girl you are chatting with. She should give you her Facebook information so you can check here profile out. You should see several “natural” pictures–photos with friends, family, classmates, etc. Even those who are not rich tend to be active on social media, so it may be a “red flag” if she directs you to a profile that doesn’t have much on it.

There are also several social profile searches you can use: just Google “free social profile search.” Search her name and/or email address and you should get some idea of whether or not she is who she claims to be. You may also want to put her email address in Google (or other search engines) and just see what comes up.

*Do an image search. Tineye is a great search engine you can use to find out if a Filipina you want to meet or date is using a genuine picture. If she’s using celebrity/model photos you’ll see that pretty quickly. You may also want to do a Google image search on her name and just see what comes up.

*Use video chat. Services like Skype are great for two reasons. First, you’ll be able to see her and verify that she’s a living, breathing woman that looks like the pictures she’s sent you. More importantly, I’ve found that it’s much easier to get a sense of chemistry when you are actually talking (instead of typing). It’s kind of the next best thing to talking to a Filipina in person.

RECOMMENDED: I recommend Christian Filipina for those who are serious about finding love in the Philippines.

Understand this: internet cafes with webcams are now widely available in the Philippines. If she refuses to do video chat I can promise you she a scammer. It’s one thing if she is occasionally unable to do video chat–but don’t trust her if she always makes excuses not to be on camera.

*Very important: never, never, never give money to someone you haven’t met in person! Don’t blame me or anyone else if you ignore this rule and get ripped off. I’ve heard quite a few testimonies of guys that have started sending money to a girl in the Philippines only to discover that she was using him. These are the nightmare stories that give Filipina dating a bad name and ruin it for the sincere ones. Women who ask for money or start giving you “hints” about their desperate situations are not worth the trouble. I would advise you to simply cut off communication if a Filipina asks for money (directly or indirectly).

One more thing: I have found that the scammers who are out for money are usually not that patient. She’ll show her true colors pretty quickly if fleecing you is her only goal. Scammers lose interest pretty quickly if they find out you won’t send any money or gifts before meeting in person.

Step 3: Cautiously Build Friendship and Trust

Let’s say you have met a girl that seems sincere and genuine. Chat with her as often as you can and build the friendship. Do not profess your love to her or start making promises about engagement/marriage if you haven’t met her in person. You may think you love her, but there are just too many things you will not know without meeting her in person.

In the meantime you can get to know each other through frequent chatting and emailing.

I’ll interject something here: you may be wondering how many girls you should chat with at once and how many you should plan to meet. I can’t give you a cut-and-dry answer for this. You’ll probably start by contacting more than one Filipina and see who responds. I know guys who narrowed it down to one “prospect” before visiting the Philippines. I’ve known of others who plan to meet more than one and making a decision once they visit the country. Either way can work and you’ll have to decide what is best for you. My main advice is just to be completely honest with the women you are chatting with regarding your intentions.

Step 4: Plan to Meet Her Within a Reasonable Time Frame

Let’s say you have narrowed your search down and believe you have found the girl of your dreams. I would encourage you to book your ticket to the Philippines and try to meet her as soon as practically possible (within a few weeks). As I’ve mentioned, this is the only way you’ll know for sure she’s the right one for you.

I’ve encountered men who have chatted with Filipinas for months or years without any “end game” in mind: no definite plans to go to the Philippines. Don’t do this if you are really serious about love and marriage–go meet her! Don’t waste your and her time!

Filipina Dating: Summing it Up

Hopefully these tips have helped you. I feel very grateful to be married to a Filipina and I think there are plenty of lovely, sincere women in the Philippines who would make excellent wives. A little wisdom and common sense will go a long way in finding the right one for you.

Filipina Scam: How to Avoid Con Artists

Years ago I wrote about using a social networking site (Friendster) to help you identify scammers on Philippine dating websites. It was good advice at the time, but Friendster is now irrelevant for the purposes of doing background checks. This post is a much-needed update on what works now.

Both the availability of internet and use of social media have rapidly expanded here in the Philippines over the past few years. You can and should use this to your advantage if you are corresponding with a Filipina in hopes of finding love. Here are some suggestions for identifying and avoiding con artists.

I’d first recommend you start with a reputable website for meeting women in the Philippines. I really like Christian-Filipina.com because I think they do the best job of weeding out fake profiles. But there are others you may prefer, so it is up to you. I would be very careful of free websites, though I have some friends that have used them with success.

You will eventually start communicating with women somewhere other than the dating website. Different sites have their own rules, but most will allow you to exchange email addresses after you’ve communicated a few times. This is the time to start doing an informal background check.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to check her Facebook profile. You should be able to find pictures of her with friends and family (“natural” pictures, not studio type photos). Search for her profile using the email she gave you, and you should also search her name (to see if she has other profiles). Most people who use the internet will have an account on Facebook, so this can be a good way to verify someone’s honesty. She may not have hundreds of pictures, but you should be able to get a feel for whether or not she is “real.”

RECOMMENDED: I recommend Christian Filipina for those who are serious about finding love in the Philippines.

You may also want to check her name/email in other social networking sites like Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Google+, etc. These are all places where you may find valuable information.

I would also advise you to search both her name and email address in Google (and other search engines). Do an image search while you’re at it.

Finally, you should chat with her on webcam using Skype (or a similar service). It’s a huge warning sign if she always makes an excuse for avoiding a webcam. Voice chatting with her while on webcam is also a good way to see if there’s any chemistry between you. My wife and I were in different cities when we first started communicating with each other. Talking through Skype every day really helped us get our relationship started until we could meet in person.

These steps may not reveal anything, but they are definitely worth your time. I could have avoided a complete disaster of a “relationship” if I had followed these steps with one of the girls I met online.

I’ll repeat a few things I’ve already said in previous articles on scammers:

*Use Tineye.com and check some of the pictures she sent to you. This is especially helpful if she’s trying to scam you with celebrity pictures. This may help you do a more extensive background check, too (you may find more of her profiles on social networking sites).

*Never send money to someone you haven’t met in person.

*Go slow and steady and develop mutual trust over time.