Maldives Police reveals that starting from 2020 until June 16, a total of 485 cases related to financial fraud have been reported.
Speaking on a TV show, Superintendent of Police, Ali Faiz and Chief Inspector of Police, Nahid Hussain revealed the crimes were committed by using names of shops, organizations, companies, and other individuals. Surprisingly, cases spiked amid the pandemic, proven by the statistics that show 259 cases reported so far this year. This is more than the total 226 cases reported in 2020. In total, damages of these cases exceed MVR 7.4 Million.
For the past decade, cheaters have enhanced their strategies and plan out the process now, unlike just random calls that was more common in the beginning. There are more than 800 different mobile numbers identified so far, which are mostly registered under foreign names and therefore complicates the investigations further. Police also stated that very few of these cases are solved. Reports have shown that in addition to Maafushi Jail, cases were identified across Lhaviyani Atoll, Laamu Atoll and Addu Atoll as well.
Police said that forged documents are used and affluent victims are targeted more. Reports of fake transfer slips sent to shops have increased over the past few months, and police urge shop owners to be more vigilant in making such transactions.
72 of the reported cases were relating to the black-market sale and exchange of currency. Social groups on platforms such as Viber and Telegram are used to collect MVR promising USD in exchange, which has caused a total of MVR 1.4 million in damaged to a number of victims.
Police repeatedly reminded the public that no bank will make calls asking for credit and debit card details. Hence, do not make any further contact once such information is requested for and duly report to concerned authorities about it.