BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — Mayor Benjamin Magalong has issued fresh reminders for tourists and visitors to the city to be vigilant in their accommodation bookings to avoid becoming victims of scams and illegal transient businesses.

Magalong made the call as the city prepares to roll out crowd-drawing events for the Panagbenga Festival this February.

“Let’s be cautious so as not to fall prey to these people who take advantage of our festival to advance their unscrupulous deed,” the mayor said.

He said scammers usually use fake social media pages and accounts pretending to be the owners or representatives of legitimate accommodation establishments.

To make sure of legitimate transactions, visitors were urged to transact only with accommodation establishments listed on the city’s officials tourist assistance website, the VISITA website at htttp://visita.baguio.gov.ph/.

To verify legitimacy of the transactions, people are also advised to call the Permits and Licensing Division at 619-3184 to confirm the names of registered owner/s and their contact numbers.

Fake accounts may be reported to the official Facebook page of the Baguio City Anti-Cyber Crime Unit or call 09088997228.

The City Tourism Office also listed warning signs that the service is fraudulent:

*Too good to be true packages.  All-in packages that are unrealistically cheap may not be actually real!

*No business permit and no official receipt.  Always ask for copies of business permits and receipts that can be verifiable;

*No official public website or social media page.  Legit businesses will promote their services on public and well-recognized online platforms, usually with customer reviews and ratings;

*Social media account was just recently created.  Not necessarily all new websites or accounts are illegal, but scammers have the propensity for deleting old accounts and then will create new accounts, using different names every time;

*Showing IDs that are not government-issued.  Many IDs can just be fabricated and therefore may be fake, better ask for government-issued IDs since they are more verifiable.

*Declared address is non-existent.  To verify the address, please call 074-4462009. – Aileen P. Refuerzo