Police warn of scams during Ramadan shopping

Maldives Police Service has warned the public to remain alert to scams during Ramadan-related shopping and business transactions.

In a video shared on social media on Tuesday, Senior Sergeant Abdulla Shahneez of the Anti-Scam Centre said fraudsters often use festive periods to obtain money through deception.

He said police have observed an increase in scams conducted through online trading platforms, including Facebook Marketplace. He added that preparations for Ramadan may be contributing to increased activity by scammers.

Shahneez advised members of the public not to transfer money without verifying that the seller or service provider is a legitimate business. He said businesses can be checked through the government’s business registration portal.

Police advised against transferring funds to individual bank accounts when conducting business transactions and said payments should only be made to verified business accounts. They also advised consumers not to make payments before receiving goods.

In addition, police urged the public not to click on unknown links when shopping online and not to share personal banking details or one-time passwords (OTP) with anyone.