Crime Alert

Be careful when engaging in business transactions with individuals without conducting thorough checks or consulting relevant institutions they claim to represent.

This follows an increase in the number of obtaining financial advantage by deception reports recorded in the Western Division with 13 cases reported so far this month.

Individuals are going around collecting money from people promising goods and services which they fail to deliver and this trend has been noted in the Western Division.

10 cases were reported in Lautoka, one in Nadi and two in Sigatoka for the month of May, 2021.

Six of the reports received involved victims who paid between $160.00 to $600.00 for groceries which was never delivered.

Two people were arrested and have been produced in court. Three reports involved people paying for tires but failed to receive the goods.

Two reports involved victims who paid for taxi permits whereby one individual paid up to $2000.

The remaining two reports were from Sigatoka where one victim paid $500.00 for an I-Phone.

The second case from.Sigatoka involved the victim sending $500 to a man who claimed he worked for a delivery company at the Airport.

The suspect had allegedly informed the victim that he needed $1000.00 for the parcel to be cleared for collection.

The victim sent the money and has yet to receive anything. So far, five people have been charged and produced in court for the above offences.

The Fiji Police Force is urging members of the public to be careful when exchanging large sums of money for goods with individuals without conducting thorough checks.