Dubai's Damac boss warns of scam using his name

Hussain Sajwani says fraudsters are abusing his family name and that of his charitable foundation for 'unlawful gain'

Hussain Sajwani, above, said his family and foundation names were being used by fraudsters. Razan Alzayani / The National

The owner of Dubai property developer Damac gave a warning that fraudsters are using his and his foundation's names to try to con people.

Hussain Sajwani urged anyone who was approached to contact the police.

Damac is among the country's best-known developers and the Damac Foundation is a major sponsor of the Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid's drive to train young people in computer coding across the Middle East.

"Unauthorised individuals or organisations are falsely using my name and my foundation's name in an attempt to fraudulently secure unlawful gain," Mr Sajwani tweeted.

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"Do report any emails, attempts or online presence directly to [e-mail] or call 901."

The nature of the scam is not clear and Mr Sajwani did not state whether the fraudsters asked for money or personal details.

But his alert comes amid a spike in financial fraud attempts in the UAE, with residents reporting hoax emails, phone calls and text messages.

Many messages refer to major upcoming events like Dubai Expo or to banks such as Emirates NBD, the country's largest high-street lender, and even the country's leaders.

Police have apprehended several gangs in recent months, including two in Abu Dhabi, accounting for 80 arrests in June and a further 22 arrests in May.