Tongan police have warned social media users not to fall for scam posts sharing purported to have come from the Ministry of Education and Training offering up to 2000 free online courses.
The false posts directed social media users to websites that asked for their personal information.
“The Ministry of Education and Training has confirmed, through E-Government, that this advertisement is false and part of an online scam involving a malicious link”, the Police said.
“As such, the public is advised:
(a) Not to engage with the advertisement as it is not true;
(b) Not to open the link (https://tinvurl.com/vkvhsb6a) attached to the advertisement, as it is likely malicious and can result in the loss of sensitive information and potential victimisation in a scam;
(c) Not to follow or share any Facebook pages promoting such advertisements; and (d) Report and block these fraudulent Facebook pages”.
In 2022, Tongan authorities warned the public about a scammer who promised the victim a fortune, convincing that he would visit and buy themselves a house and a car in celebrating his birthday.
The next day after receiving these affectionate messages, another WhatsApp number, +61433803023 (appears to be an Australian number) called the victim directing to send $2000 to pay for a package that has arrived at the Fua’amotu airport.
The victim, having led on to this intended malicious fraud, then proceeds to make loans but fortunately, the victim was alerted in time to the fact that this was a fraud. The victim then filed the case with Police.
