WhatsApp scammer tries to steal money from dead man’s heir

Abu Dhabi court sentences accused to two months in jail and closes his WhatsApp account

A man has been sentenced to two months in jail for attempting to steal money from a dead man's son through Whatsapp. Getty images

A scammer who tried to steal money from a dead man’s son has been sentenced to two months in jail by an Abu Dhabi court and had his WhatsApp account shut down.

The accused messaged the heir on the messaging service, after finding his contact in an obituary posted on social media to receive condolences, prosecutors said.

He posed as a merchant and told the son that the deceased owed him money for goods he had bought.

He then asked him to transfer the value of the goods, Dh900, to his bank account.

“When the victim asked him to send his commercial licence or his ID card and asked to contact him, the offender wrote that he was mute and could not speak,” the public prosecution said.

“Suspecting a scheme to defraud, the victim reported the matter to the authorities.”

The Centre of Forensic and Digital Sciences of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department investigated the WhatsApp number and proved that it belonged to the defendant.

The accused’s phone also had pictures that matched the WhatsApp conversations.

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The Misdemeanour Court sentenced him to two months in jail, confiscated his phone, and permanently closed his WhatsApp account.

Prosecutors called on the public “to be vigilant and to test the veracity of information they receive from unknown persons before responding to it, also to not be fooled by scammers who use social media to commit crimes”, se rsectors said.

aid the statement.

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Updated: August 11th 2021, 3:09 PM