The Anti-Scam Centre of the Maldives Police Service has revealed that over MVR 800,000 has been lost to fraud in the past two weeks, underscoring a concerning rise in scam-related activity across the country.

According to the Centre, a total of 44 fraud cases were reported between the 18th and 30th of this month. These incidents resulted in combined financial losses amounting to MVR 899,348.43. Of this total, MVR 147,132.00 has so far been recovered. In eight of the cases, the full amount lost was successfully retrieved, while partial recovery was achieved in a further three.

The reported cases involved a variety of fraudulent schemes, with the majority falling into the following categories:

Scammers primarily utilised popular online platforms and communication tools to target victims. The distribution is as follows:

In response to the spike in scam activity, the Anti-Scam Centre has issued several recommendations to help individuals safeguard against fraud:

The Centre strongly advises anyone who suspects they have been scammed to report the incident immediately to enhance the likelihood of recovery and support ongoing investigations.