The Interior Ministry has warned the public that as soon as one scam is discovered another springs up to catch the innocent out ... with lonely people, in particular, falling prey to criminals wanting to make their bank accounts as empty as their love lives.
“As I mentioned, there is always something new happening,” said department head for financial crimes within the General Directorate of Anti-corruption, Economic and Electronic Security Major Mohammed Al Abdullah.
He highlighted a growing number of lonely-hearts being ‘cat-fished’ out of their savings through a popular social media platform.
Cat-fishing is when someone sets up a fake online profile to trick people who are looking for love, usually to get money out of them.
“A few days ago, one went viral online,” Major Al Abdullah said. “A cyber-expert conned people on Instagram. Guys received a direct message from a girl, pretending she was interested and suggesting that the victims join her family cryptocurrency platform, as she has done ‘very well’ from it.
“She will then connect each guy to a WhatsApp group and make them join another portal where her uncle acts as the ‘crypto-expert’ and they are encouraged to transfer amounts of money to the platform.
“Once the criminal sees that he, or she, can’t get any more money out of an individual, the victim is then ‘ghosted’ (online term for ignored) and the scammer moves on to someone-else.
“Only when attempts are made to withdraw money, or get it back, do people realise that they have been fooled.”
Major Al Abdullah said his team in Bahrain continues to fight and tackle the scammers on a daily basis.
All major government authorities and directorates, banks, telecommunications and cryptocurrency companies in the kingdom are working together, 24-hours-a-day, and believe they will have positive news to share in the near future.
The GDN continually highlights Interior Ministry warnings about scammers and phishing alerts. Criminals make bogus calls, send text messages and even use false social media alerts to dupe victims.
The ministry’s anti-corruption and economic and electronic security director general urged people to always ignore suspicious or anonymous messages. Those with concerns are encouraged to report cases via the ministry’s 24-hour hotline at 992, visit the nearest police station or email at aecd@interior.gov.bh.
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