Minister Straughn warns public against elaborate social media scam

Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn has issued an alert regarding a sophisticated social media scam targeting major financial institutions in the country.

The warning comes on the heels of the recent Budget speech where he raised concern about the proliferation of scams on social media platforms.

Just two days later, a post surfaced on Instagram, featuring the logos of four prominent Barbadian financial institutions: City of Bridgetown, Sagicor, CIBC, and RBC.

The post, attributed to the handle Chris Satali__447, promoted what was described as “tier one wallet investments” promising exorbitant returns for deposited funds.

Minister Straughn said: ”On Monday, during my Budget speech, I indicated to the country that we must be careful with respect to social media and the propagation of scams. Lo and behold, two days later, there is a post on Instagram with four logos of Barbadian financial institutions,” officials stated, highlighting the rapid materialisation of their concerns.

The scam encourages users to direct message the account for further instructions.

He strongly urged the public to disregard these solicitations. “I continue to urge Bajans to please ignore such opportunities, and that is putting it nicely. The person is indicating to direct message them, in order to get further instructions. And, all I can do is urge Barbadians, to please, please, do not contact these persons,” he emphasised.

Straughn made clear that none of the featured financial institutions are associated with the fraudulent scheme.

“Ignore these messages because none of these financial institutions are associated in any way with this scam. And, the person is intending to give some kind of familiarity with recognised brands of financial institutions in Barbados, in order to solicit monies from unsuspecting Barbadians,” he  explained.

Minister Straughn urged Barbadians not to fall victim to the scam.

“Please, let us not fall for this trick; keep your hard-earned money, and I hope that people will make the right decisions, in relation to not supporting these ventures,”  he said.

(BT/BGIS)