Two people have been charged with allegedly obtaining money through the mobile money transfer service.

The first accused is a 28-year-old man from Lautoka.

It is alleged that on three different occasions in November last year, the accused obtained cash amounting to $1,100 from members of the public.

He allegedly posted advertisements for a house for rent using a fake Facebook account, for which he received bonds on three different occasions.

He was arrested and charged with three counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception and will be produced at the Lautoka Magistrates Court today, while in the second case, a 27-year-old man from Labasa is charged with allegedly obtaining $230 from another individual.

The accused allegedly created a Viber account pretending to be one of the victim’s friends, asking for money, and informing him that he was in police custody.

The victim, after sending the $230 via the MPaisa platform, then realized that it was a different person.

He is charged with one count of obtaining financial advantage by deception and will be produced at the Labasa Magistrates Court today.

The FPF MPaisa Task Force is actively investigating reports received from all divisions, and to date, a number of people have been charged and produced in court for alleged dishonesty via the MPaisa platform.