Resort loses USD 250,000 in email hacking scam

Scammers have stolen USD 250,000 from a resort in the Maldives after hacking an official business email account, police said.

Speaking on a Television Maldives (TVM) programme, Senior Sergeant Abdulla Shahneez said the scam involved unauthorised access to an email account used by the resort for financial transactions. Police did not disclose the name of the resort affected.

According to police, the theft occurred last month and involved a transfer of USD 250,000, equivalent to MVR 3.8 million.

“This was not a coincidence,” Shahneez said.

He said police have sought assistance from Interpol to recover the funds, adding that the stolen money is currently held in a bank account in the United States.

Shahneez urged victims to report such incidents as soon as possible. “If these cases are reported promptly, we can attempt recovery through cooperation with foreign authorities,” he said.

He noted that many large-scale scams involve the hacking of corporate email accounts. Police have also identified scams in which fraudsters promise visa services and collect money from foreign nationals. In several cases, victims arrived in the Maldives to find that no visas had been issued.

Shahneez said fake websites imitating the immigration portal are also used to carry out scams, targeting foreign workers and tourists.

According to police statistics, 98 scam cases have been reported so far this month. These cases involved losses totalling MVR 1.4 million, of which MVR 280,000 has been recovered.

Police said most reported scams are carried out in the name of business transactions, phishing links and fraudulent money transfers.