Scam cases increase, over MVR 500,000 stolen in two weeks

Scams have increased in the past two weeks, with over MVR 500,000 stolen from various people.

A police official told Mihaaru news that they have received reports of 65 scam calls within the past two weeks, and MVR 533,000 have been stolen from various people during this period.

The most number of scams were via hacking social media accounts, at a total of 15 cases. Scams in the name of buying and selling foreign currency, non-payment of money after taking products that were being sold, and not giving products after taking the money from a client, as well as obtaining money by impersonating a friend of the victim and sending of fake transfer slips were also registered.

Apart from these cases, there are some cases of hacking using various links and scams where OTP code was obtained. There was also a case of fraudulent withdrawal of money on the pretext of representing a company, a family member or a promotion.

The police have asked the public to be aware of unverified messages and phone calls sent by people to get money fraudulently and not to respond to such messages and calls. They have been asked to report to the police if such a thing happens.

When scams became rampant and became a major national issue and it came to the notice of state agencies, steps were taken in the past to address them. This includes installing jammers in jails and limiting the availability of phone SIMs.

When banks strengthened their security measures to create awareness among the public to address this issue, there was a decline in the number of scams.