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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DFA cautions public on passport appointment, authentication scams

DFA cautions public on passport appointment, authentication scams

Published Jun 8, 2021 03:13 pm

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has cautioned the public against the reported existence of passport appointment and document authentication scams on social media.

(DFA)

In an advisory, the DFA stressed that it does not use Facebook or any other social media network to offer or confirm passport application appointments nor has it authorized any company or individual to offer and accept passport appointment scheduling on the Department's behalf.

“Those who engage the services of these unauthorized private entities or individuals using social media accounts and networks run the risk of not getting an authentic appointment or encountering issues with their passport application, aside from incurring additional expenses,” the DFA said in the advisory.

The Department also strongly advised the public to ignore offers from these companies or individuals and to use only the official passport appointment system maintained by the DFA (www.passport.gov.ph/appointment for passport applications and https://co.dfaapostiIle.ph for apostille applications).

Over on Twitter, a female netizen called the attention of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on why the slots for online passport appointments are already fully booked from June to September, claiming that many people are “into the business of offering open slots for a fee during these months.”

The DFA said it is working hard to open additional appointment slots but without compromising the health and safety of the transacting public and its personnel at this time of the pandemic.

In addition, those who are qualified to use the courtesy lane such as senior citizens, persons with disabilities, OFWs and other qualified individuals may set their appointment by sending an email to [email protected] or to the email address of the nearest Consular Office (CO).

Those who are seeking assistance for consular services may do so through the following official DFA accounts:

Official DFA Websites: http://dfa.gov.ph, https://consular.dfa.gov.ph/, and http://ofwhelp.dfa.gov.ph

Official DFA FB Accounts:https://www.facebook.com/dfaphl and https://www.facebook.com/OFWHelpPH

Official DFA Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/dfaphl

Official DFA IG Account : http://instagram.com/dfaphl

Related Tags

social media scam apostile DFA passport application system
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