Mike S Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 A friend of ours asked me to see if this was a scam or not .... she was sent several boxes from her foreign friend and received first a text and then an email from the BOC telling her she needed to send them p10,500 so they could release the boxes to her ..... she could send it through a bank or LBC ..... but gave her no info as to how to go about it ..... I suppose she was suppose to reply to either the text or email ..... she is afraid to as she doesn't know if by replying to the request she will be set up for a scam .... I personally have never heard of the BOC sending you a email or text requesting money .... with me I had to pay the fee to the delivery company when they delivered the items and not send money to the BOC ....... the delivery company had all the forms and charges from the BOC when they delivered my goods .... she has a delivery door to door and a tracking number but has not heard anything from the company .... Has anyone experienced anything like this before ..... giving BOC's record I'm very skeptical .... :cheersty: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyWay Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 She should call the delivery company. Can I ask which delivery company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huggybearman Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 This sounds very suspicious. If its been sent as a Balikbayan box then as far as I am aware no customs duty (if that is what the 10,500php is) should be payable. We have sent several boxes as freight, not Balikbayan, over the last year or so both from Thailand and the UK and in each case a nominal 'cargo tax' element was included in the transport charge paid to the shipping company. I understand this cargo tax is paid via the shipper to the Philippines authorities. This was paid by us as the sender, not as the receiver. I must admit I was a bit scepitcal at the tax when it was first levied on two shipments from Thailand. But recently we sent two seperate shipments from the UK and the shipping company also levied the same charge. As far as I am aware, the receiver shouldn't pay anything. I would get your friend to investigate further. Her delivery company would be a good place to start. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jollygoodfellow Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 she was sent several boxes from her foreign friend and received first a text and then an email from the BOC telling her she needed to send them p10,500 so they could release the boxes to her The term "send them' could be a warning sign of something not right. Has she tried contacting the BOC directly? Is the Email supposedly from customs or a delivery company? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike S Posted November 11, 2015 Author Posted November 11, 2015 The company I believe is Air Freight Cargo in the UK ..... I looked up the numbers for her to call in Iloilo (local BOC office) and the one in Manila ..... I too don't like the sound of it as there is so much scamming especially around Christmas time .... I'll keep you informed in case someone else has this problem .... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve & Myrlita Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 I smell a rat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyWay Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 The company I believe is Air Freight Cargo in the UK ..... I looked up the numbers for her to call in Iloilo (local BOC office) and the one in Manila ..... I too don't like the sound of it as there is so much scamming especially around Christmas time .... I'll keep you informed in case someone else has this problem .... A lot of freight companies might do business like this, but they should be able to tell you what is going on. E.G., they will move the freight door to door but only after you handle the customs duty part. If the duty is really that high, it might be why it is being asked for directly by BOC. Some companies might pay the duty on behalf of the customer, and collect it from the customer, but usually up to a low limit. If the 10,500 due is legit, they would probably not advance the customer that much. That said, I would never "send" a peso. You should pay at a BOC office where they will give you a statement and give you an OR after paying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum Support scott h Posted November 11, 2015 Forum Support Posted November 11, 2015 I smell a rat Me also,,,,,,,,but let me be the skeptical one here. We all know how often rules and regulations change with out notice, being published or warning. It might be the left over from that plan to tax BB boxes and the guy in your area didn't hear that it got rescinded. As and aside, this is the reason I only give out my land line number for business contacts, to avoid text scams. In my limited experience however usually the delivery company collects the fees upon delivery or if I have had to pick it up at the local LBC office. Thing is, funnier things have happened here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expatuk2014 Posted November 11, 2015 Posted November 11, 2015 we have sent over 12 Balikbayan Boxes to the Philippines filled with clothes-electronics etc we sent all of the Boxes with Pooteen forwarding from London , the family in the Philippines were never asked to pay any money and only 1 item got broken which was a flower vase !! The only time I had to pay extra was when I ordered something from abroad which we had to tax on but the postman collected the tax ! like most here say its seems its a scam ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gusincebu Posted November 12, 2015 Posted November 12, 2015 Has she met her foreign friend ? Or just an online acquaintance ? Its quite a common scam out of dating sites ..a friend of mine received a similar email after chatting with a guy online.. she offered to go to manila to their office to pay in person, and they backed off, never to be heard of again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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