Organized and emotion-driven online fraud schemes utilizing social media platforms are increasingly alarming the nation, the Federal Attorney General has announced.
Numerous citizens are being deceived out of substantial amounts of money through fraudulent pretexts such as living abroad, seeking urgent romantic companionship, or suffering from a terminal illness while searching for a trusted person to manage and inherit their vast wealth.
Perpetrators widely exploit popular social media platforms including Facebook, WhatsApp, and Telegram to execute these illicit operations, according to the report.
Fraudsters typically initiate contact by sending friendship requests, manipulating their targets' emotions through seductive and deceptive language by claiming they were exclusively chosen out of everyone available. Consequently, many individuals are handing over up to 500,000 Birr and other assets to these scammers, Attorney General data confirms.
Described as highly robust and coordinated, the scam network operates through an astonishing execution process. After the initial perpetrator vanishes following promises of romance and wealth inheritance, an accomplice calls the victim using a different phone number and a fabricated identity.
The scammers then employ convincing arguments, claiming that a valuable package containing US dollars and gold has been shipped from abroad and has arrived at customs, but require a specific clearance fee to claim.
To build trust, they send photos of sealed packages bearing the names of the sender and receiver via Telegram or WhatsApp. Seduced by the prospect of the gift and believing the items have genuinely arrived; victims repeatedly send money, losing 500,000 Birr or even more.
The communication process typically begins on Facebook before shifting to private messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, prompting authorities to issue a strong warning for the public to exercise deep caution against such crimes.
People targeted with unsolicited online romance and gift offers should pause and question why they were singled out from everyone else, authority’s advice.
During the concluded fiscal year alone, the Federal Attorney General filed over 80 major charge files concerning online fraud cases involving amounts exceeding 100,000 Birr.
When combined with similar cases filed across sub-cities and other lower administrative tiers, the statistics highlight the alarming overall scale of the crisis and its severe socio-economic impact on citizens.
