Anti-cybercrime department is warning citizens to beware of scams amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
The cons are presented as financial or food assistance, easy loans or fake hospital authorities demanding payment for support or rescue.
Department director Chea Pov said that while people were distracted by Covid-19, certain individuals were finding ways to cheat people.
"All citizens should be careful of some bad people who are taking the opportunity to deceive you through a phone call or social media," he said.
According to Pov, these people can use different methods to con people such as providing a simple online loan, which fraudsters require an advanced payment and attach a link containing a virus to steal data.
Another method is to pretend to be a hospital authority and demand payment to support or save people.
Pov siad this announcement doesn’t mean that fraud has already occurred, but it is a wake-up call for people to be careful and not fall for a scam.
"This is an educational message to tell people to be careful because every person every day needs food. Fraud has happened before, and we have to protect everyone as many people use social media now," he confirmed.
The department posted on its Facebook page on April 22 that to prevent fraud, people should follow certain guidelines, such as confirming the source of the information before clicking the link, Like or Share on any page.
"If in doubt, people can contact the phone number provided by the government. In case there is information related to providing health services, please call 115 or contact the local authority for more information or confirm that information,” he added.
Seung Seiha, a resident of Sen Sok district’s Teuk Thla commune, said that on Facebook, he noticed there were many fraudulent posts that used money as bait.
"There are lots of tricks showing lots of money and donations and so on. We don’t need to get involved as it’s a waste of time,” he said.
