A 38-year-old male has been taken into custody in Malé following an investigation into a phishing scam that defrauded a victim of MVR 50,000.

The suspect, identified as Moosa Mohamed of M. Omega, Malé, was arrested under a court order on May 2. Following his appearance in court, he was remanded in custody for a period of 15 days to facilitate further investigation.

According to the Maldives Police Service, the incident began on April 24, when the suspect established contact with the victim via Facebook Messenger. The suspect subsequently sent a malicious link through the messaging application Viber. When the victim accessed the link, their mobile device reportedly underwent a factory reset, during which MVR 50,000 was transferred from the victim’s bank account to an account held by the suspect.

The authorities have confirmed that the case remains under active investigation. This incident serves as a stark reminder for the public to exercise caution when interacting with unknown individuals on social media and to avoid clicking on unsolicited digital links.