The Maldives Police Service has warned the public about a rise in scams involving fraudsters tricking people into sharing verification codes to gain access to their bank and social media accounts.

Police said investigations conducted over the past month revealed that scammers use phone calls and text messages to obtain one-time passwords (OTPs), carry out e-SIM swaps and create digital wallets.

Fraudsters typically contact victims while pretending to be someone who previously used their phone number. They also pose as people from overseas seeking to recover old email or social media accounts, asking victims to share verification codes sent to their phones.

Police warned that sharing such codes could result in more than the loss of social media or email accounts, as scammers may gain full access to bank accounts and digital wallets, causing significant financial losses.

The public has been urged never to share OTPs or verification codes with anyone, regardless of the reason given.

Anyone receiving suspicious calls or messages, or suspecting unauthorised access to their accounts, should immediately report the matter to the National Emergency Centre on 911 and contact their bank to freeze affected accounts. Police also advised victims to seek assistance from the relevant social media platform or the Police Cybercrime Centre to recover compromised accounts.