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

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


Haneen Dajani
  • English
  • Arabic

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.

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.

Watch: UAE's national fraud awareness campaign to curb email scams

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if you go

The flights

Flydubai flies to Podgorica or nearby Tivat via Sarajevo from Dh2,155 return including taxes. Turkish Airlines flies from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Podgorica via Istanbul; alternatively, fly with Flydubai from Dubai to Belgrade and take a short flight with Montenegro Air to Podgorica. Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Podgorica via Belgrade. Flights cost from about Dh3,000 return including taxes. There are buses from Podgorica to Plav. 

The tour

While you can apply for a permit for the route yourself, it’s best to travel with an agency that will arrange it for you. These include Zbulo in Albania (www.zbulo.org) or Zalaz in Montenegro (www.zalaz.me).

 

Updated: August 11, 2021, 3:09 PM`