The Consumer Council of Fiji is working with United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) in drafting a scam legislation which aims to strengthen consumer protection against fraudulent schemes and deceptive practices.
While contributing to the debate in Parliament on the Consolidated Review Report on the Consumer Council of Fiji 2019-2020, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 Annual Reports, which were tabled in November 2025, Minister for Finance, Commerce and Business Development Esrom Immanuel said this legislation would provide clear legal frameworks for identifying, reporting and penalising scammers, thereby enhancing consumer confidence and safety in the marketplace.
“To-date, the council is the secretariat of the Anti-Scam Task Force chaired by the Ministry of Commerce and Business Development,” Mr Immanuel said.
“An Anti-Scam Awareness Week was held successfully from the October 6–7 to educate and safeguard people from scammers and fraudsters.”
Member of Parliament Manoa Kamikamica said the Government now had a very active monitoring of scams in the country.
“When we took office, there was no visibility in terms of scams or scam watching, and unfortunately, this Government saw the emergence of the e-Bay scam,” Mr Kamikamica said.
“Out of that, the Consumer Council worked with the ministry, and we now have a very active monitoring of scams in the country.
“It is a cross inter-agency effort that involves the Reserve Bank of Fiji, FCCC, police force, the Consumer Council, the ministry and other agencies to ensure that scams are managed as soon as they come to light.”
He, however, highlighted that our laws were not adequate in terms of the management of scams.
“So, hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will see laws come to the house that will actually give teeth to some of these agencies, so we can shut down scams before they take foothold in our country.”
