Five residents of the Isle of Youth reported being victims of the same scam involving bank transfers on Saturday, July 18, which resulted in losses exceeding 300,000 pesos. According to their claims, the National Revolutionary Police (PNR) did not take concrete actions despite having the details of the alleged perpetrator.
One of the affected individuals, Arianna Benítez Sánchez, presented the case in the Facebook group "360 Isla de la Juventud Compra, Venta Cuba". As she explained, she lost 100,000 pesos, while the other four victims were deprived of 80,000, 110,000, and 30,000 pesos, totaling more than 300,000 pesos.
"We are several victims who were scammed on the same day, and we are all at the PNR. We have the phone number, the account to which all the transfers were made, and the scammer is online. We have tried to keep communicating with them to maintain contact so that the PNR can take some action with all the information we have, but since the loss did not involve any state institution, it's clear that nothing will happen," Benítez wrote.
The five individuals went together to file the complaint, but according to their testimony, the only response they received was the taking of statements. They claim that they were also not informed about the legal timeframe for following up on the investigation.
"The fact that the people are desperately searching for a miserable peso in cash is the fault of the State. The fact that scammers are taking advantage of the people's needs is the fault of the State. How long will the people have to continue bearing the burden of an incompetent system?" questioned the whistleblower.
The post sparked a wave of reactions from other users who claimed to have experienced similar scams.
An internet user reported that two weeks ago, he lost 367,900 pesos. "I provided conversations, phone records, transactions, the account that was used for the scam, and I'm still waiting for any updates," he wrote.
For its part, a user claimed to have been scammed out of 72,000 pesos and shared screenshots featuring the name and card number of the person who allegedly received the money.
Several comments agreed in denouncing an alleged lack of response from the authorities regarding this type of crime.
"A long time ago, the police on the Island have had all the information needed to take action regarding these types of scams, and they have never done anything," stated a Cuban woman. In a similar vein, another internet user commented: "If the scam targets a state sector, they will surely resolve it quickly."
According to published testimonies, one of the most common methods involves identity theft via WhatsApp. Criminals manage to access the phone number of a relative or acquaintance of the victim and request urgent transfers while impersonating that person.
The victims also reported that there is an institutional void that makes it difficult to recover the money. While the PNR does not make progress in the investigations, banks claim they cannot disclose the identity of a cardholder without a police order, and ETECSA also does not provide information without judicial authorization. Additionally, the transfers made through Transfermóvil and EnZona are, in practice, irreversible unless there is a judicial resolution.
The rise of this type of fraud is occurring amidst the deep cash crisis that Cuba is experiencing. The scarcity of money in circulation has forced millions of people to rely on electronic payment platforms for their daily transactions, a situation that scammers have taken advantage of. In the informal market, even obtaining cash through a transfer can result in losses of up to 40% of the amount sent.
The magnitude of the problem was also reflected in the testimony of the intellectual Alina Bárbara López Hernández, who stated that while she was detained on the same Saturday at a police station in Matanzas, she witnessed the constant arrival of citizens to report scams related to bank transfers.
Among the numerous comments generated by the complaint, one of the most shared was from user Yanet Vázquez Cruz: "For the dictatorship, the only crime that merits importance and punishment is thinking and dissenting against them; the rest is nonsense."
Related videos:
Filed under: