Organised Criminals Alert

22 February 2018, 12:00AM

The Central Bank of Samoa has issued a warning to members of the public to be on the look out “organised criminals” that who use social media to rob them of their money.

The warning is made in a statement issued by the Bank under the title “C.B.S warns that Facebook is allegedly another avenue for stealing your money.”

“It has been brought to our attention that there are supposedly some people or well organized criminals that are using Facebook as a tool to get to your hard earned money,” the bank warns.  

“They come in the form of get rich quick schemes promising you huge amounts of returns if you invest your money with them.  

“The business models and the products that they promote may be different (and very complicated), but the concept is still the same:  invest your money with us, and we will give you a huge return!  

“This means, for example, if you invest $1,000 with them, you will get $10,000 in return within a few weeks.  Or, invest $10,000 with them, and you get $100,000 in return within a few weeks from investing.”

The Bank cautions people against believing in such a scheme.

“Please be alert and vigilant of these scammers on the social network (like Facebook, twitter, snapchat, instagram and the like).”

The statement goes on to provide tips  in order to be social network smart:

1. Social Networks may look harmless, but once you log in to your Facebook account for example, you better be careful of who you talk to on Facebook.

2. Never trust anyone that you don’t know personally or face to face.  If you have never seen the person that you are talking with on Facebook before, then you shouldn’t trust these types of people.  You will not know who really is behind on that other side of the internet. Some people seem really friendly and well informed on the internet, but that is most likely not who they really are. You would not invite criminals and scammers into your home, likewise, you wouldn’t want to talk with these types of people on the internet as everytime you speak with them on the internet, you are inviting them into your private life.

3. And lastly, avoid being snared by easy money or get rich quick schemes. It would be prudent to ‘avoid’ talking with these types of people online or people you have never seen before face to face.

Should you require any further details on this, please contact the Central Bank.

22 February 2018, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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