Scam Alert: Bahamians Cautioned against being Scammed out of Moneys in Promise for Large Cash Prizes
The Central Bank of The Bahamas cautions the public to avoid falling victim to schemes that trick them out of money, in exchange for promises to send them large amounts of cash or other prizes.
Members of the public should always be sceptical and avoid giving out personal information to individuals or companies they do not know. They also should avoid making payments to unknown persons, even through banks and money transfer businesses.
The Central Bank is aware of several recent incidents where persons have been scammed out of almost $2,000 each. The victims were tricked into believing that they had won a large cash prize from a Samsung contest. To collect the prize, they were asked to make a series of payments either into local bank accounts or to send the moneys abroad. In exchange for the payments, the victims were promised that their prizes would be sent to the Central Bank for collection. The victims also received WhatsApp messages from a stranger pretending to be the Governor of the Central Bank, who promised that transactions were legitimate. The WhatsApp messages, even showed a fake profile and photo of the Governor, using a phone number that appeared to be a local one. In variations of this scheme, testimonial letters also circulated, that were said to have been issued by the Prime Minister.
These documents are fake, even though the names and images of the individuals being used are sometimes real. The promises that these messages make are intended to trick persons out of money.
The Central Bank of The Bahamas wishes to inform the public that it does not collect moneys on behalf of any private individual or private business. This alone is a signal that a scam is taking place.
The public should also be acutely aware that images of public figures are widely available on the internet and can easily be copied into fake documents and fake profiles. Fake letterheads and websites can also be easily produced from copies of company logos that can be found on the internet, and signatures of public figures can be easily lifted from photographed or scanned documents.
These incidents have been reported to the Commercial Crimes Section of the Royal Bahamas Police Force for investigation. If anyone suspects that they are a victim or a target of such scams they should immediately report it to the Police.
The Central Bank would also encourage persons to bear the following tips in mind generally to protect themselves against scams.
29 August, 2019