FIU Director Razim Buksh

Fijians are being advised to exercise caution when responding to advertisements through print media, unsolicited emails and social media.

This after the Financial Intelligence Unit established that the ‘buy three get one free’ advertisement in the local print media on January 30th is bogus and a scam.

The advertisement claimed to offer a ‘buy three get one free’ deal on brand new Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, Playstation 5, other mobile phones and laptops valued from around $1, 400 to $2, 600.

FIU Director Razim Buksh says the interested customers were to contact via emails.

[Photo: Supplied]

Buksh adds the FIU was also able to establish that when contacted by prospective buyers from Fiji, the criminals responded by providing an order form requesting for details of their intended purchase.

Upon replying to their initial email, the criminals provided the total price for order in Fijian Dollars using fake invoice of legitimate foreign business.

Buksh highlighted that they’ve alerted commercial banks and international money transfer service providers to refrain from processing any payment to the criminal beneficiaries related to this scam.