The Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia issued an advisory to warn overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to be wary of a new email scam that is set to victimize them. The email may appear to be authentic and valid because it claims to be from the Philippine Embassy in Muscat, Oman.

The email message is informing the OFW recipients that they had won a bonanza of 500,000 pounds (Php 35.596 million). To claim this prize, the letter sender is requesting for the personal information of the OFW recipients.

This is an excerpt of the advisory issued by the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, "All Filipinos under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh are therefore cautioned and reminded not to give out personal information or follow instructions as stated in such kind of emails, especially those that are purportedly promising cash prizes and using Philippine government offices as channels, without verifying their authenticity with the help of the proper authorities."

It is reported that in Oman, an OFW asked the Philippine Consulate General in Saipan to inquire about the email that supposedly comes from the Philippine Embassy in Muscat.

The Philippine Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Antonio Villamor said, “Let us try to raise our awareness and be on guard against unscrupulous and insidious cyber criminals who will try all sorts of trickery to steal other people’s identities or swindle their hard earned money."

The Ambassador also said that they are encouraging anyone who will come across this email scam or anything of the same nature to report it to the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh at its official contact details:

Telephone: 01-482-3559
Fax: 01-488-3945
Email: filembry@sbm.net.sa