The governor of the Central Bank of Samoa is warning, the public to be vigilant against scams and the work of con artists.
Maiava Atalina Ainu'u-Enari revealed examples of recent scams to the Samoa Observer, whereby individuals and a company were tricked into parting with large amounts of money.
In one case, a woman began an internet romance with someone, carrying out a lengthy courtship on Facebook, email and later on the telephone.
She parted with US$13,000 to pay for her liaison to come to Samoa, but she never saw him or her money again.
The Central Bank of Samoa in the capital Apia. Photo: RNZI/ Koroi Hawkins
In another scam, a bank received email instructions from a company to remit funds overseas as payment for construction supplies.
The instructions included what looked like genuine invoices and an authorisation letter, but the money had never been retrieved.
Another victim was told she had won an online lottery in the United Kingdom and she paid fees to process her winnings.
The cheque she received for $US20,000 was fake.
Maiava said scams do not always involve large amounts of money and even intelligent people could be misled.
She said people needed to apply common sense, especially when sending money off island.
