Press Release No 24 –
Beware of Scam Emails and Cybercrime Financial Transactions
Press Release No : 24/2011
Date : 23 September 2011
The Fiji Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) would like to warn and advise members of the public to exercise extreme caution when receiving unsolicited emails promising attractive job opportunities, payment of lottery awards, inheritance of large amounts of funds, lucrative investment opportunities and other “get-rich-quick” schemes. The Director of the FIU, Mr. Razim Buksh said that a number of cases continue to be brought to the attention of the FIU whereby Fiji citizens have fallen victims of such fraudulent schemes and have lost their money to the perpetrators and organised cybercrime gangs.
The FIU has also recently become aware of an increase in the number of reported cases of fraud and theft of money from bank accounts by means of unauthorized access to internet banking facilities. The cybercrime gangs who mastermind such illegal schemes are also the ultimate beneficiaries of these crimes. They are usually foreign nationals who operate from outside of Fiji. Mr. Buksh has advised the general public to beware of unsolicited emails claiming to be from local financial institutions requesting the recipient of the email to click on a link in order to „update their personal information‟ which is „in danger of expiring‟.
Internet and email account holders are requested to do the following if they receive any unsolicited emails claiming to be from a financial institution:
1. Immediately delete any such emails from your inbox;
2. Do not click on any links provided in the body of the email;
3. Do not open any files that may be attached to the email;
4. Treat such emails with extreme caution;
5. Do not give your personal information and banking details to anyone via the Internet;
6. Immediately notify your financial institution or the FIU if you suspect that the email correspondence may not be legitimate.
Members of the public are warned to be wary of emails offering attractive fees or percentages as commission or wages for bogus jobs. Money that is “transferred” or “deposited” into your bank account as income from sales, commission, or wages is the “stolen” money. Remember that you may be assisting the perpetrators and organised cyber crime gangs to facilitate their fraudulent
transactions and you may be also charged as a party to the crime. Mr. Buksh said that customers should immediately report any unauthorized transactions to their financial institution or the FIU and should not withdraw or further transfer or send the funds to anyone.
The FIU also encourages all financial institutions in Fiji that offer internet banking facility to take a more proactive role in education and creating awareness of these issues with their internet banking customers.
Mr. Buksh said that the FIU will continue to monitor all financial transactions to ensure that Fiji‟s financial system is safe and remains protected from cybercrime activities.