The Maldives Police Service announced this week that more than USD 75,000 lost to fraudulent schemes was recovered during this year’s Operation Frontier+, an international initiative aimed at dismantling sophisticated criminal networks. This campaign, the third large-scale global operation dedicated to combating cross-border financial crime, unified national anti-scam centres to target illicit syndicates.
The operation ran from 10 March to 7 May, concluding with an international press conference where participating nations disclosed collective results, including arrest figures and statistics regarding frozen assets. Domestically, the effort involved the deployment of more than 40 officers from the Anti-Scam Centre of the Maldives. Adam Naveed, head of the Anti-Scam Centre, stated that 349 cases were investigated throughout the operation, with 186 of those instances identified as e-commerce scams.
Financial damages initially exceeded USD 259,480.52, police revealed. Law enforcement agencies successfully froze 664 bank accounts, enabling the recovery of USD 75,251.62. Investigators brought 574 individuals suspected of involvement, comprising 490 men and 84 women, in for questioning.
Operation Frontier+ drew on a coalition of international partners, including authorities from Australia, Brunei, Canada, Dubai, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, and Thailand. Investigators targeted deceptive practices ranging from investment and romance frauds to job-related deception and phishing. Authorities continue to issue public safety guidance, urging citizens to avoid clicking suspicious digital links and to refrain from sharing security verification codes with third parties.