Sharjah Police arrest gang specialising in selling fake gold jewellery

Victims fooled into buying gold-coloured metal pieces

Sharjah Police have arrested a gang of 12 who hoodwinked victims into buying gold-coloured metal pieces. Photo: Sharjah Police

Sharjah Police have arrested a gang of 12 people who specialised in the sale and distribution of fake gold jewellery.

Col Omar Al Zoud said Sharjah Police had received several reports of people falling victim to the swindle while out shopping.

He said the perpetrators would first offer the victims low-priced phones for sale. The offender then produced a sample of what he said were original gold pieces with Islamic inscriptions.

He told the victim that the gold pieces were not available on the local market and offered them at a low price to convince the shopper to buy them.

Col Al Zoud said that to complete the fraud, the offender asked the victim to examine some of the pieces at the gold shops to ensure its authenticity, which gained the necessary trust to seal the deal.

But after buying the items, the victim discovered the items were merely gold-coloured.

He said the police had received the reports from a number of dates, which at first removed the suspicion that it was an organised operation.

Once Sharjah Police were able to establish a link between the various reports, officers were able to identify and arrest all gang members.

He said all 12 confessed to their participation in the fraud and admitted that each had particular roles.

Some would monitor possible victims, some would negotiate and complete the sales and others handled the shipments of gold-coated metal from overseas and delivered to the dealers.

The case has been referred to the Public Prosecution to take legal action against them.

Col Al Zoud warned the public to avoid buying goods from people who are not licensed to do business. He also urged people to report street vendors to the police.