The Maldives Police Service has begun an investigation into a number of incidents involving tourists who were duped into visiting the Maldives on the basis of forged hotel reservations.
The number of visitors brought into the country under false pretenses has recently surged, with the majority of the victims being Indian tourists.
Before entering the country, visitors must fill out the Maldives Immigration portal with information about where they will stay. Maldives Immigration has seen occasions when bookings for a guesthouse exceeded its capacity after they began contacting to confirm the reservation.
According to a police media official, the cases of fraudulent bookings have been reported to the Maldives Police and are under investigation.
The police media official stated that more information will be released as the investigation continues.
Last Sunday, 27 tourists were stuck in Male’ City after falling prey to a hotel booking fraud. The issue was later brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities.
Mohamed Ahmed Hussain, the Controller General of Immigration, previously announced the Maldives Immigration’s decision to implement systematic and policy reforms in order to combat the issue of visitors being duped into visiting the Maldives under false hotel bookings.
