Resort Loses USD 250,000 in Hacking Scam

Scammers have defrauded a resort in the Maldives of USD 250,000 after gaining unauthorised access to an official business email account, police have said.

Speaking on a Television Maldives (TVM) programme, Senior Sergeant Abdulla Shahneez said the perpetrators hacked an email account used by the resort, without specifying which resort, for financial transactions and carried out a fraudulent transfer. 

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The incident involved the transfer of USD 250,000 or around MVR 3.8 million. Shahneez said the crime, which occurred last month, was deliberate and carefully planned.

Police have sought assistance from Interpol in efforts to recover the funds, which Shahneez said are currently held in a bank account in the United States.

He urged businesses and individuals to report such incidents as quickly as possible, noting that timely reporting improves the chances of recovery through cooperation with foreign authorities.

According to police statistics, Maldives Police have recorded losses totalling MVR 1.3 million from 165 scam cases reported in October, with e-commerce and online business fraud accounting for the largest share at 86 cases, followed by currency exchange scams, impersonation, phishing, vishing, job-related fraud and other schemes. Police said only MVR 400,000 has been recovered so far, while 84 cases have been resolved, adding that scams were carried out through phone calls, phishing links, online messaging platforms and social media marketplaces. 

Authorities have urged the public to remain vigilant as scam cases continue at a high level.