4 to face court in Labasa for separate cases of alleged scams

Two men and two women will appear in the Labasa Magistrates Court today after being charged by the Fiji Police MPaisa Task Force for cases of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The first case involves two men aged 45 and 27 years.

They are alleged to have colluded on the 18th August 2023 to scam the victim of $790 after hacking the Viber account belonging to the victim's friend.

Police say the victim received a message requesting the said amount for urgent needs, whereby he sent it not knowing the victims Viber account had been hacked by the two accused persons.

After receiving the money, the 27-year-old withdrew the money and gave the first accused $310 while he took $480.

The victim discovered the scam when he inquired with his friend who stated he had never asked for money.

While in the second case, a 29-year-old woman is alleged to have on 1st March this year, dishonestly obtained $548 from the victim who did not know how the money was transferred without her knowledge.

In the third case, a 43-year-old woman is alleged to have on the 23rd of December obtained $40 from the victim after she had provided her personal information and One Time Pin for an investment opportunity presented by the accused.

Police says the accused allegedly used her OTP to withdraw the said amount.

All four accused persons have been charged with one count of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

The Fiji Police Force is again reminding members of the public not to give away personal information, PINs or passwords, to anyone soliciting the information over the phone either through a call or message.