Let the buyer (and seller) beware of fraudsters

Every day 13 people are victims of fraud throughout the country, especially in the provinces of Panama and Chiriquí. The reports specify that between January and February of this year, 784 complaints of scams and fraud were registered, while in the same period of 2022, the number was 849 cases. Although there was a slight decrease, of 8%, for authorities and specialists in the subject, the figure remains very high.

It is a type of crime in which technological tools such as the internet or mobile phones have been used. In 2022 alone, some 25 operations were carried out against criminal groups that are dedicated to this type of crime over the Internet. In the words of the researcher and sociologist, Danilo Toro, fraud is a very special crime because it requires deceit and bad intention from the beginning, on the part of whoever is going to commit the crime. “A homicide can be intentional or negligent, while a fraud cannot,” he said. “Socially, there is a mentality that tends to criminality and these statistics tell us how the culture of society has changed. With the advancement of technology, the bad intent of the criminal takes advantage of that,” he said. In the opinion of the specialist, although scams over the Internet have been growing in recent years, person-to-person cases continue to be the most reported in Panama

In Chiriqui, last week fraudsters posing as Minsa officials requested that they be allowed to carry out an inspection on the premises, and if anomalies are found, pay an alleged fine, through online banking or through cash. “We hereby state that none of the collaborators of the biosafety, occupational health, or medical departments, in particular, are empowered to apply monetary sanctions that are paid on behalf of an individual”, indicated the Health entity.

Organized crime 
The Public Ministry, together with security forces such as the National Police, have dismantled several criminal organizations dedicated to this type of crime. On October 18, 25 people, linked to the crime of aggravated fraud, were apprehended through Operation Ocean in Panama, Colón, Herrera, Panama West, and Chiriquí.

According to the authorities, four methods were used to defraud. The criminals requested bank transfers from their victims, who were contacted by telephone claiming that they had to pay taxes after winning prizes for cars, houses, and technological equipment. They also made large purchases online from merchants, picked up merchandise, and paid with bad checks or for amounts less than the purchase amount. On the other hand, they offered products through social networks. In this context, people made the payment, but never received the merchandise.                                                                                                                                              Authorities such as Attorney General, Javier Caraballo, have indicated that it is enough to have a mobile device, platforms, or social networks and the Internet to be a target of “cybercrime”, which has also given way to the rapid increase in this type of criminal behavior. Faced with this, the Public Ministry argues that it is “imperative” to create personal crime prevention policies among ourselves.