A 26-year-old woman from Chaguanas was defrauded of $19,600 in a suspected online scam involving the sale of fake gold jewellery, following a transaction arranged through Facebook Marketplace.

The victim reported to police that she was lured into purchasing what she believed to be genuine gold jewellery from an individual posing as a scrap gold dealer online.

According to police reports, on September 16, she contacted the suspect via Facebook and agreed to meet him the following day to complete the purchase. The following day the victim met the suspect at the Caroni Police Station compound, where she handed over $19,600 in cash in exchange for what appeared to be five gold-coloured hand bands and one gold necklace, said to weigh approximately 140 grammes in total.