The Maldives Police Service has recovered over MVR 100,000 from scam-related cases reported last week.

Statistics from the Anti-Scam Centre show that 22 cases were reported between March 22 and March 28. During this period, a total of MVR 116,212.50 was lost to scams, of which MVR 114,456 has been recovered.

Most of the reported cases involved impersonation scams, where individuals were deceived into transferring money under false identities. A total of eight such cases were recorded. This was followed by cases linked to e-commerce transactions, while five cases involved fraudulent money transfers. Three additional cases were categorised under other scam types.

Weekly scam statistics --- Photo: Maldives Police Service

The most commonly used methods in these scams include phone calls, Viber, online messaging platforms, phishing links and Facebook Marketplace.

Authorities have advised the public to remain vigilant and verify the authenticity of individuals before making any financial transactions. They also urged people not to share personal information under any circumstances and to enable two-factor authentication on applications to enhance security against such scams.