Authorities warn of uptick in medical scams via Facebook

Scam posts flagged by police. (Photo/Anti-Scam Center)

The Maldives Police Service has issued a formal warning regarding a surge in medical donation scams circulating on Facebook. These fraudulent campaigns utilize stolen images of vulnerable patients—frequently children—to construct fabricated narratives designed to manipulate public empathy for financial gain. Perpetrators often avoid direct voice communication while remaining highly active via messaging platforms to facilitate illicit transactions. Law enforcement agencies are urging the public to exercise extreme caution and perform rigorous verification before engaging with or contributing to such appeals to avoid financial exploitation.

Scammers are repurposing internet-sourced medical photographs to create fake donation drives.
Fraudsters prioritize text-based communication to avoid the scrutiny of direct voice calls.
Public vigilance is essential to prevent the spread of deceptive content across social media.
Verification protocols should be strictly followed before providing any financial assistance.

The Maldives police on Tuesday warned of a rise in medical scams run via social platform Facebook.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Anti-Scam Center said that there has recently been a significant increase in Facebook posts using photos of ill patients to solicit donations.

But many of these posts are scams, warned the police.

The police said that such scammers steal photos of ill patients from the internet and create sob stories about a sick loved one, most often a child, in order to gain sympathy and solicit donations. They might not pick up calls made to the phone numbers written in the post, but promptly answer messages.

The police shared some safety tips against scams. This includes:

Calling and confirming the authenticity of such appeals before transferring money.
Doing research to check the authenticity of photos shared in such posts, including using Google reverse image search.
Refraining from sharing such posts unless it’s confirmed to be authentic in order to prevent others from falling trap to scams

The police urged the police to remain vigilant.