PCG warns travelers vs. fake website offering Covid-19 tests

MANILA – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Monday warned international travelers going to the Philippines against a “malicious website” that offers reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) by the PCG on their arrival in the Philippines for a fee.

In an advisory, PCG Task Force Bayanihan Returning Overseas Filipinos (TF-BROF) Commander, RADM Rolando Punzalan Jr., said the website https://www.philippinesvisa.com, which redirects to https://www.philippinese-cif.com/ to complete an electronic case investigation form (e-CIF), is “false” and not authorized by the PCG.

“All concerned are enjoined to be vigilant and not fall into the said unauthorized claim,” Punzalan said.

He said those who wish to report an incident related to the website or have inquiries may reach out to the PCG TF BROF through mobile and Viber at +63915-088-5276.

“Said Task Force works with the Department of Transportation – Philippines (DOTr)’s One-Stop-Shop for the Management of Returning Overseas Filipinos (OSS-MROF),” Punzalan said.

On July 7, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) warned the public against “booking scams” for Covid-19 testing, noting that only http://book.redcross.org.ph is the only legitimate booking website from the PRC and Dashlabs Shop.

It said these scam sites have fooled individuals into paying to accelerate their testing and processing of e-CIF, noting that the public must only visit official sites such as the PRC’s website at https://redcross.org.ph/ to avoid these scams.