Dubai residents have been warned to be on their guard against phone scammers impersonating officials in a bid to trick them into sharing personal information.
The warning came after Dubai Police arrested a gang who were allegedly impersonating employees of the Consumer Rights Protection Department. Those arrested are accused of contacting people and urging them to log into the UAE Pass app to update their personal details.
Once the victims complied, said Dubai Police, the gang would use this access to infiltrate bank accounts and steal money. The gang would also request banking information including bank card numbers, CVV codes, and one-time passwords.
“The gang used sophisticated fraudulent techniques to convince victims to share confidential information, particularly bank card details,” said police. “They took advantage of the public’s trust in official institutions to illegally withdraw money from the victims’ accounts without their knowledge.”
The Anti-Fraud Centre at the General Department of Criminal Investigation of Dubai Police said a task force was created to locate and arrest the gang. Members were subsequently detained “in possession of electronic devices used to carry out the fraudulent operations”, said officers.
Police stressed the importance of not sharing personal or confidential data under any circumstances with unknown individuals or callers – regardless of who they claim to be.
Victims targeted
The National reported earlier this year how a Dubai resident had Dh2,300 ($626) taken from his bank account by scammers claiming to represent Dubai's utility body Dewa. In February, an Indian national received an email purporting to be sent from Dewa, which said he was due a refund on his monthly bill. As he had recently moved from Dubai to Sharjah, he assumed a payment may have been due to close his account.
He did not check the sender’s full email address and clicked on the link. He said the email was convincing and included his details on a Dewa letterhead. The scam victim included his bank account details in his reply to the email and moments later received a text message saying money from his account had been withdrawn in San Diego. By the time he alerted his bank, more than $600 had been taken.
Last year, another gang was arrested in the emirate after members were caught using a fake telecoms network to commit fraud. They were found to be using a sophisticated device to jam a nearby Etisalat by e& cellular tower signal and switch users to their own bogus network.
This allowed them to send phishing links by text message to users and access phone data through downloadable software, said police.
Several victims in Dubai Marina initially raised the issue after receiving messages that appeared to be from banks and government bodies, but which the institutions said they had not sent.
