KINGSTON, Jamaica — The police are probing yet another scam through a fake online store.

In the latest case reported, a 24-year-old female of a Manchester address saw an advertisement for sale of cell phones on Instagram page name Apple gadgets Ja. 

The woman made contact with the page and expressed her interest in an iPhone XS Max 64 valued at $75,000. She was later provided with the number for a bank account to make the payment.

She deposited $76,200 to the account number, which covered the price of the phone and $1,200 for the delivery cost. 

The woman was given a number to track the package, which was to be sent to her through a courier service. 

Having failed to receive the phone by the planned time, she contacted the courier but was told that the tracking number was not associated with any package.  She immediately checked the Instagram page but realised it had been taken down.

Since late last year and into the start of this year, the police have received several reports about unscrupulous people using social media platforms, especially Instagram, to defraud people.

The police say the scammers usually advertise for sale cell phones, gadgets, and other items and ask customers to make payments via a deposit or bank transfer.

They pointed out that since the start of 2021, the Area 1 Fraud Squad has been receiving reports of people being fleeced by fraudsters who promote online stores that are subsequently removed from the respective sites once money has been lodged or transferred to the bank accounts.

The police have advised Jamaicans to take extreme caution and exercise vigilance before conducting online business transactions.