Police have reported recovering more than MVR 200,000 from the money lost to scams reported last week.

According to the Anti-Scam Center statistics, 42 scam cases were reported between September 28 and October 4.

A total of MVR 318,342.50 was lost in these cases, of which MVR 221,243.33 has been recovered, the police said.

Most of the reported cases during this period were related to e-commerce or online business scams, with 19 such cases reported. The second most common were currency exchange scams, with six cases reported. Seven impersonation cases were also reported during this period. Additionally, there were three cases each of phishing, wishing, and job scams, along with six other miscellaneous cases.

According to the Anti-Scam Center's weekly statistics, the most commonly used methods for scams were phone calls, eBay, online messaging platforms, phishing links, and Facebook Marketplace.

The Anti-Scam Center advises always verifying the authenticity of the party before transferring money, never sharing personal information, and using two-factor authentication on applications as important steps to protect against such scams. They also noted that scammers often succeed when victims remain silent, and promptly reporting such cases to the police increases the chances of recovering the money.

To report fraud cases, people can call the National Emergency Call Center at 911 or 125 (extension 2020), or email [email protected] for assistance.