Cybercrime in the Maldives has exploded this year, and fraudulent online shopping leads the charge. Police statistics show reported cybercrimes jumped more than 105% in the first six months of 2026 against the same period last year.
These crimes all rely on the internet and technology to reach their victims.
Maldives Police Service logged 512 cybercrime cases in the first half of 2025. That figure climbed to 1,053 over the same stretch in 2026. Investigators are now working 884 cases this year. They have concluded and filed 457 others after various measures, a total that also folds in cases lodged before this reporting period.
Online Fraud Drives the Spike
Police pointed to one main culprit behind the surge. A sharp rise in online fraud and scams sits at the center of it.
Online shopping scams lead every category. These cases leapt from 86 to 464, a staggering 439% jump. Police flagged this as both the most frequently reported and the fastest-growing type of cybercrime this year.
Other scam categories rose sharply, which include:
- Social media scams: which climbed from 15 to 109 cases, a 626% surge
- Foreign currency exchange scams rose from 56 to 103 cases, an 83% increase
Some Cybercrimes Ease Off
Several crimes tied to personal data and defamation, common in past years, actually fell.
- Blackmail using explicit material dropped from 16 to 4 cases, a 75% decrease
- Hacking of personal social media accounts fell from 37 to 26 cases
- Credit and debit card fraud dipped slightly, from 65 to 63 cases