Nearly MVR 2 million lost to scams in September as e-commerce fraud leads case numbers

MVR 1.9 million was lost to scam cases in September, according to figures released by the Police Anti-Scam Centre on Tuesday.

Police statistics show 179 scam cases were reported last month, with losses amounting to MVR 1,918,497.04. Of this, MVR 1,322,282.34 was recovered.

The most common scams reported were online business or e-commerce scams, with 72 cases. Currency-exchange scams were the second most frequent, with 44 cases, followed by 24 booking cancellation and refund scams. Police also recorded 12 investment scams, 11 impersonation cases, and 16 other types of scams.

Police noted that scam reports continue to rise, with 184 cases reported the previous month. Losses in those cases exceeded MVR 1.96 million, while MVR 1.13 million was recovered.

The Anti-Scam Centre has urged the public to remain vigilant and avoid clicking on unverified links. Police reiterated that OTP codes and online banking login details must never be shared, and that legitimate institutions will never request confidential access codes.