Maiava Atalina Ainu'u-Enari has revealed examples of recent scams to the Samoa Observer, whereby individuals and a company were tricked into parting with large amounts of money.
In one case, a woman thought she had found true love on the internet and carried out a lengthy courtship on Facebook, email and later on the telephone.
She parted with US$13,000 to pay for her liaison to come to Samoa, but she never saw him or her money again.
In another scam, a bank received email instructions from a company to remit funds overseas as payment for construction supplies.