Anonymous attackers carried out two scams by compromising emails and stealing more than MVR 2.4 million, police said on Thursday.
First scam - MVR 587,000
This scam was carried out in February 2024 by obtaining the victim’s email address after calling and claiming that the person had won a flat. The scammers then converted the victim’s SIM to an e-SIM and gained access to internet banking.
The scammers stole MVR 25,000 from the victim’s account in addition to MVR 526,000 from the account of an NGO registered under the victim's name, police said. One suspect has been arrested in connection with the scam, police said.
Stealing the funds took one hour and 49 minutes in a scam planned and carried out by several people, police said. Eight ATMs located across the country had been used to withdraw the money.
Second scam - MVR 1.9 million
This scam was carried out on June 18, 2024 by obtaining an email address from the shareholder of a business who was contacted through Viber and WhatsApp under the pretext of vendor registration for supplying goods, police said.
The scammers stole MVR 25,000 from the victim’s account and MVR 1,897,016 from the company’s account, of which MVR 548,860 has been retrieved, police said.
The business account had MVR 2.6 million when the scam was carried out and only MVR 800,000 of that was saved, police said.
