Deepfakes and fake advisers are coming for Mauritian investors
Aggressive social media ads, fake experts, and AI deepfakes: online investment fraud has gone professional, and financial experts say Mauritius is squarely in range. A victim clicks an ad promising easy returns, a smooth 'adviser' builds trust over weeks, then a slick trading platform shows fictitious gains, and when the money is due to come out, fresh fees and taxes are demanded first.
'Mauritius is not immune,' warns Hafeez Toofail, managing director at SALVUS (Mauritius). His fix is unglamorous: sharper detection, cooperation across borders, and investors who slow down before they wire.
The tell has not changed in decades: if you cannot withdraw without paying to withdraw, it was never your money.
Ration rice runs short until October as STC supplies lag
For weeks, the cheapest rice in the basket has been hard to find. Ration rice, imported by the State Trading Corporation and sold at a capped Rs 56 for a 5 kg bag, is the one poorer households lean on, and right now the shelves keep emptying. The STC brings in about 24,000 tonnes a year, nearly 2,000 tonnes a month, roughly a fifth of the market, and buys through quarterly tenders. It expects supply to normalise in October.
A price cap only helps when there is a bag on the shelf to buy.
Building a house keeps getting pricier for Mauritian families
Putting up your own home is slipping further out of reach. Material costs, labour, and financing have all climbed, and builders say the budget that covered a modest house a couple of years ago no longer stretches to the same four walls. For many young families, the dream is still there; the quote is just longer.
Port Louis crosses a million tonnes of ship fuel and wants more
Port Louis has passed one million tonnes of marine fuel delivered, a milestone the bunkering trade has chased for years. The port now wants to grow into a bigger regional refuelling stop, betting that ships crossing the Indian Ocean will top up here rather than sail on. Space and storage are the squeeze.
Shorts
Top court reserves its pension reform ruling – The Supreme Court held back its verdict after the state said the challenge is now moot.
Fresh talks Thursday over 303 Concentrix jobs – Officials meet again Thursday to settle the fate of 303 workers hit by the outsourcing cuts.
Teacher held over assault on a college rector – An educator, 31, was arrested and charged with assaulting a rector at a Hermitage private college.
Rights body urges language safeguards in law – The NHRC, the national human rights commission, recommends constitutional protection against language bias.
PM backs officer facing online abuse – PM Ramgoolam met PC Mary Jade Catherine and called the posts about her disgusting and unacceptable.
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