Maldives Scams: Tourist, Online & Investment Fraud Guide
Common scams affecting tourists and residents in the Maldives, with official reporting routes through the Maldives Police Service.
Emergency number: 119 (police) — verify on official sources.
Last reviewed: 1 August 2026
The Maldives is one of the world's most popular luxury travel destinations, and its signature fraud exploits exactly that: fake resort and guesthouse booking websites. Polished sites and social-media pages clone real properties or invent new ones, take full prepayment for overwater villas at too-good prices, and vanish — a scam that surfaces only at the jetty. Book through the property's verified official site or established platforms, and confirm any reservation directly with the resort before paying a balance. Around the booking layer sit overpriced unofficial speedboat transfers, unlicensed excursion and dive sellers, and souvenir markups in Male.
For residents, the dominant fraud is the OTP scam. Waves of calls and texts impersonate Bank of Maldives, Maldives Islamic Bank, telecom providers and government offices — 'your card is blocked', 'your prize is waiting', 'update your details' — and extract the one-time code that authorises a live transaction; police and BML issue recurring warnings that no institution asks for OTPs. Alongside it run fake online shops on Viber and Facebook groups, hijacked accounts begging contacts for transfers, task scams over Telegram, and crypto and forex schemes recruiting through social media.
The Maldives Police Service, the 119 emergency number and the online reporting portal are the official channels, and the service runs an Anti-Scam Centre that has performed strongly in regional anti-fraud operations. When an OTP or card number has been given up, the bank call — within minutes — is what decides whether the transaction completes.
Common scams
- Fake resort or guesthouse booking websites
- Phishing messages impersonating banks or telecom providers
- Investment and crypto fraud promoted via social media
- Romance scams escalating to financial requests
Tourist-specific scams
- Overpriced unofficial speedboat and transfer operators
- Fake or unlicensed diving and snorkelling excursion operators
- Inflated prices at unofficial souvenir vendors
Online shopping scams
- Fake social media shops with no goods delivered
- Phishing links targeting online banking or BML credentials
- Delivery fee SMS scams impersonating postal services
Job scams
- Fake resort or overseas job ads requiring advance fees
- Task scams via messaging apps escalating into deposit demands
- Bogus resort recruitment agencies charging foreign workers 'visa processing' fees
Romance scams
- Dating-app grooming escalating to investment or money requests
- Fake online partners seeking emergency wire transfers
- Hijacked Viber and Facebook accounts asking the victim's contacts for transfers
Investment scams
- Fake forex and crypto platforms promoted on social media
- Pig-butchering combining romance with fabricated investment portals
- Social-media 'trading groups' collecting deposits for guaranteed returns
How to report a scam here
- Contact your bank immediately to freeze affected accounts
- Call 119 to reach the Maldives Police Service for urgent matters
- Use the online police case reporting portal at police.gov.mv/online/policecase
- Preserve all screenshots, messages and transaction receipts as evidence
Local reporting & protection links
Always verify reporting routes and emergency contacts on the official government or agency website for your country.
Bank & payment guidance
Contact your bank, or Bank of Maldives through its official channels, as quickly as you can and ask for an emergency hold on the transfer. Use a route you find yourself, in the app or on your card. Say plainly that you were deceived into authorising the payment, ask for the receiving account to be reported, and keep the reference number. If a PIN or one-time code was shared, say so immediately and have the card frozen — an OTP authorises a live transaction, and the race is to kill it before it completes. A Maldives Police Service case reference, via 119 or police.gov.mv, supports the formal dispute. Tourists who prepaid a fake resort booking should dispute the card charge with their home issuer as a chargeback and send the police the site, correspondence and payment records.
Evidence to preserve
- Screenshot all messages, profiles, websites and payment pages
- Save transaction references, account numbers and crypto wallet addresses
- Keep emails with full headers where possible
- Note dates, times, names and phone numbers used
Frequently asked questions
How active is the Maldives Police Service in combating scams?
The Maldives Police Service has shown a strong track record in regional anti-scam operations, recording the highest scam recovery rate among several Asian nations in INTERPOL-linked Operation Frontier+. The service maintains an Anti-Scam Centre and an online reporting portal at police.gov.mv.
How do I spot a fake Maldives resort booking site?
Warning signs are prices well below the resort's own rates, full prepayment demanded by bank transfer, domains that slightly misspell the resort name, and 'agents' reachable only through messaging apps. Book through the property's verified official website or established platforms, and confirm the reservation directly with the resort before travelling.
What are the OTP scams targeting Maldivians?
Calls and texts impersonating Bank of Maldives, telecom providers or government offices claim a card is blocked or a prize is waiting and ask for the one-time code sent to your phone — which authorises the fraudster's transaction. No bank or official body ever asks for an OTP. Hang up and call the bank on its official number.
Sources
- National police and cybercrime portals (verify on official sites)
- FTC / Action Fraud / Scamwatch consumer guidance