Man arrested for making scam deposits to accounts

A man accused of depositing money into multiple bank accounts as part of a goods-for-payment scam was arrested last Thursday.

Police have said today that the individual was arrested for fraudulently acquiring funds from multiple people, having it deposited to business accounts and then withdrawing the money.

The individual in question is Mohamed Shawin, 23, B. Thulhaidhoo, Manzaruge.

As per Police, Shawin was arrested in Hulhumale' on Thursday due to him not transferring USD 1,250 after it was meant to be exchanged to MVR. The conversation took place in a Dollar exchange Viber group.

The case was brought to the Anti-Scam Center, with an operation that went underway which successfully recovered the USD 1,250, along with missing funds from two other cases, as was said by Police. Police have not disclosed the amounts recovered from the other two cases.

Police have said that Shawin was given a 10 day sentence from the court.

Police investigations have shown that Shawin requested the money be transferred to different business accounts, with him advertising services on social media and requesting the money he acquires through fraudulent means to be sent to said accounts.

Police have stated that the money he acquires from Dollar exchanges, sale of goods and other services are fraudulently deposited into various business accounts, with him calling said businesses and withdrawing said money as physical cash.

Police also stated that in the event he does not get the physical cash, he takes goods that are worth the amount of money that was deposited.

Police have made an appeal to properly check via the account number whether the service an individual wants to pay is legitimate before transferring the money, to check and ask how the funds were deposited if they receive calls to retrieve funds that have been deposited to business accounts and to ensure legitimacy before handing back the money, and to report the issue to the Police if there is any doubt or suspicion.