Man Impersonating Lands Minister Scams Woman out of $1000

A man pretending to be Lands Minister, Cordel Hyde, will face criminal proceedings after he scammed a woman out of one thousand Belize dollars.  The scammer reportedly created a Facebook Page using Minister Hyde’s name and photo.  One woman who was desperate to get her land transactions done had reached out to the scammer, thinking that it was the real Minister Hyde behind the profile.  As a result, she contacted the scammer, told her the issues she needed resolved, and the scammer promised to assist her, but that she would first need to deposit one thousand dollars in a bank account.  The woman made two deposits of five hundred dollars each, and later realized that the person behind the fake account had blocked her.  As a result, 38-year-old, Nyria Gordon, made a report to the police yesterday evening.  Love News understands that she had deposited the money to an Atlantic Bank account registered to one Ada Ethel Toro. The matter is under investigation by the Cyber Crimes Unit in Belmopan. Head of the Unit, `Superintendent Osmond Mortis, says that he cannot divulge details but assures that the department is capable of bringing cybercriminals to justice.

Supt. Osmond Mortis, Head of Cyber Crimes Unit: “Well we don’t really go into specifics in how we do our investigations but what I can tell you is that there is no truth to any limited capacity -. The capacity of the Cyber Crimes Unit is the same as any other place in Belize who have this capability or across the world outside of our borders. It’s not a matter of if we have the resources we are all police officers in this department. If we need additional resources on a case then there are additional resources available.”

Mortis said that based on the details of the specific case, the matter may be treated as an offense under the Cyber Crimes Act or another legislation.