Cayman Islands (KY)

Because Cayman residents routinely ship parcels via Miami freight forwarders and pay import duty, scammers send fake SMS and email notifications purporting to be from Cayman Customs, FedEx, DHL, or a local freight company, claiming a small "clearance fee" or "duty shortfall" must be paid before release. The link leads to a card-harvesting page. The small fee amount (CI$5–30) reduces suspicion.

The Cayman second-hand car market imports vehicles from Japan (right-hand drive) and the USA (left-hand drive), and a proportion of US imports are salvage-title or flood-damaged vehicles that have been superficially repaired. Odometer rollbacks on Japanese imports are also documented. Sellers on EcayTrade and Facebook Marketplace sometimes withhold import documents, previous registration history, or accident reports. Purchasing a flood-damaged vehicle in a hurricane-prone territory is a serious financial and safety risk.

Cayman's small but internationally connected community does not insulate residents from romance scams, which typically begin on dating apps or LinkedIn and involve a person who never meets in person, builds an emotional relationship over weeks, then presents a medical, legal, or travel emergency requiring urgent money transfer — increasingly via cryptocurrency. Widows and divorced individuals who are new to the island and socially isolated are disproportionately targeted.

Scammers call or text Cayman residents claiming to be CUC (Caribbean Utilities Company) or the Water Authority of the Cayman Islands, warning that the account is in arrears and will be disconnected within hours unless an immediate prepayment is made. The caller or text directs the victim to purchase gift cards (Google Play, iTunes, or Amazon) and read out the codes, or to make a wire transfer to a stated account. Because utility bills in Cayman are genuinely high and unexpected, the threat creates real anxiety.

In the days and weeks following a hurricane or tropical storm (June–November), unlicensed contractors canvas residential areas of Grand Cayman offering roof repairs, window boarding, fence restoration, and water-damage remediation. They take large upfront cash deposits — sometimes 50–100% of the quoted price — and either disappear without starting work or do substandard work that fails inspection and causes further damage. Hurricane Ivan (2004) left thousands of residents in this situation, and lesser storms since have seen the same pattern repeat.

EcayTrade, Facebook Marketplace, and Instagram are the main second-hand platforms in Cayman, and fraudulent listings for furniture, electronics, vehicles, and even rental deposits are common. Sellers list desirable items at attractive prices, claim they are off-island or selling on behalf of someone who has departed, then request full payment by bank transfer before the buyer views the item. The item does not exist, or the rental "deposit refund" is a fabrication. Activity spikes after hurricanes when genuine sellers rush to liquidate and buyers are under housing pressure.