STATEMENT ON EXTORTIONARY EMAILS SENT TO STAFF OF PUBLIC HEALTHCARE INSTITUTIONS

The Ministry of Health (MOH) was alerted on 26 November 2024 that some staff from our public healthcare institutions had received extortionary emails.

2.             The extortionary emails contained manipulated images that had superimposed publicly sourced pictures of the victims’ faces on obscene screenshots of a man and a woman purportedly in an intimate and compromising situation. The emails were sent from multiple email addresses and threatened to expose the images unless a ransom was paid.

3.             All affected individuals have been advised to file reports with the Police. No monetary loss has been reported from the affected individuals.

4.             MOH and our healthcare clusters adopt a zero-tolerance stance against any form of staff harassment and abuse, and strongly condemn this malicious act against our healthcare workers and their families.

5.             MOH has alerted all our public healthcare institutions, statutory boards, and staff to remain vigilant and to report similar extortionary emails to the Police if they receive them.