Dubai police record Dh16 million of fraud and counterfeiting cases since January

Dubai force says more than 60 people were arrested during the first three months of the year in relation to the crimes.

DUBAI // Fraud and counterfeiting cases amounting to more than Dh16 million were recorded by police in the first three months of this year in Dubai.

Col Abdullah Al Rashid, director of the anti-economic crime unit at the Criminal Investigation Department, said that 44 people were arrested in 41 cases of fraud worth more than Dh4.5m, while 21 people were arrested in 19 cases of counterfeiting worth more than Dh12m.

Last year, Dubai Police arrested 174 people accused of being involved in 151 cases of fraud worth more than Dh76.5m, while 97 suspects were arrested in 110 cases of counterfeiting worth more than Dh976m.

In one case this year, an African man posing as a GCC national was arrested for trying to trick a Gulf national into giving him Dh50,000 to buy chemicals that he claimed would remove the dye on US$20m (Dh74m) of notes that he had.

“The suspect had been in touch with the Gulf national, who he located online. He told the victim that he had $20m, 45 per cent of which he would give to the victim if he was willing to give him Dh50,000 to buy a chemical that would wipe off the tainted black bills,” said Col Al Rashid. “The Gulf national suspected there was something wrong and notified the authorities.

“We executed a sting operation, in which we told the Gulf national to meet the African tourist for a transaction. The suspect was then arrested and transferred to prosecution.”

Col Al Rashid said that in such cases, the con man would use real notes to show their victim that the money is not counterfeit but then once the authenticity is established, they use fake notes to make up the bulk of the pile.

In another case, Dubai Police arrested four Asian men on fraud charges after they claimed to have 4.7 million rupees that they were willing to exchange for Dh140,000 when the actual value of the currency is more than Dh270,000.

“We received a tip from a source that the men were trying to sell the rupees for Dh140,000. We, again, executed a sting operation in which we provided our source with documented money to show the suspects he was ready for the transaction,” said Col Al Rashid.

“The rupees were, in fact, counterfeit and all in 1,000 bills. We interrogated the suspects and then they were transferred to prosecution.”

He urged people to be diligent and not hesitate to contact police if they think they are being scammed.