Scam cases surge: police report growing wave of fraud victims
Awareness programs are being carried out across all inhabited islands to educate the public about scam risks and prevention.
Police have advised the public to remain vigilant as scam cases have been on the rise.
The Maldives Police Service (MPS) has reported a sharp surge in scam cases this year compared to the previous year, with authorities confirming that 16 individuals have already fallen victim to “romance scams” alone.
At a press conference held by police on Thursday, Inspector of Police Azeef Abbas, Head of Cyber Investigations at the Cyber Crime Center, disclosed that a total of 814 cases have been reported so far in 2025. This figure represents a substantial increase of 90.2 percent compared to the same period in 2024.
Inspector Abbas further outlined the distribution of reported scam cases, stating that 66.6 percent involve fraud and deception, 10.2 percent are related to hacking incidents, and 9.6 percent concern online harassment. The remaining 13.6 percent of cases fall under other categories.
He also confirmed that 111 scam cases are currently under active investigation.
Addressing the nature of the scams, Inspector of Police Sham Mohamed stated that the public has been exposed to 12 different types of scams, with e-commerce scams identified as the most common. He reiterated that 16 individuals have been affected by “romance scams”.
In addition to this, Sham noted that numerous efforts have been made to recover funds lost in scam-related cases, adding that in some instances, all stolen money has been successfully recovered.
MPS further revealed that they are actively engaged in special programs conducted in collaboration with foreign countries to combat scam activities. Alongside these efforts, awareness programs are being carried out across all inhabited islands to educate the public about scam risks and prevention.
