Scammers Defraud a Police Officer and a Student

Scammers are defrauding a police officer and a student. Fraud related to mobile payment applications like Juice continues to victimize people across the island. Two new complaints were filed on Monday, October 13, illustrating how scammers exploit users' trust and ignorance to siphon off money. It all begins with a message or call claiming that a money transfer has been made 'by mistake' to the person's account. The scammer is polite and convincing, explaining that they cannot retrieve the amount without the recipient's help. They then guide the victim through a series of steps to 'return' the money. In reality, the victim ends up transferring money to the scammer's account two or three times, as the fraudster claims they haven't received anything.

This happened to a police officer from the Special Mobile Force living in Bambous. On Sunday, October 12, he received a message insinuating that a sum of Rs 4,900 had been mistakenly credited to his Juice account. Shortly after, a man called him, asking for the amount back. After checking, the officer realized he hadn’t received anything, yet he was convinced to proceed with a transfer. Following a second call mentioning a 'technical error,' he executed another transaction. As a result, he transferred Rs 9,800 to the scammer’s account.

On the same day, a 22-year-old student from Beau-Bassin fell into the same trap. An unknown person contacted her, claiming he had sent Rs 2,000 by mistake and needed to recover the money to pay for his wife's medical expenses. Moved, the young woman followed his instructions and made two successive transfers, losing a total of Rs 4,000.

These two cases, reported to the respective police stations in Bambous and Beau-Bassin, reveal a typical modus operandi. The scammer manipulates their target by appealing to compassion and urgency while exploiting their ignorance of electronic banking procedures. The police have launched an investigation, and the beneficiaries' numbers have been provided to them.