Smart media swindler behind bars

Amir Al Sonny, By Aya Al Deeb, Staff Reporters

The Fujairah Misdemeanors Court on Tuesday looked into the case of an Asian man accused of swindling  money via smart media.

According to the case details, a girl received a call from the defendant, who introduced himself as an employee of the bank in which she has an account. He informed her that she had to renew her data and that he would help her to do so. He asked her to send a photo of  her ID card and the bank’s which she sent them through (Whatsapp). She did not think that it could be a phone scam.

The defendant asked the victim to send the PIN of the bank’s card so that he would be able to activate the card. Again, she did not doubt the defendant and sent the PIN to him. A day after the call, the victim found a message on her mobile stating that there were withdrawals from her bank account without her doing so. She immediately called the bank and inquired about the withdrawals.

The customer service agent told her that the withdrawal process was done in a normal manner assuring her that no issues were reported in her account. She informed him about the caller who requested her copy of the card to renew her data with the bank. She requested the employee to stop her card and walked to the police station, where she filed a complaint. 

The Department of Criminal Investigation through the number of the caller was able to arrest the accused and refer him to the Public Prosecution. He was then referred to Court on charges of swindling others and stealing their money via smart media

In another case, The Abu Dhabi Court of Appeal on Tuesday looked into the case of an Asian man  accused of abusing and possessing hashish.

He was seized at the airport and found positive to consumption of hashish, while hashish was also found in his trousers.

In the Court, he confessed to the charge of hashish abuse, asserting that was outside the UAE, while the drugs in his pants was by mistake. He requested the court to grant him some time to defend himself, and permit him to see the case file.

The court decided to postpone the hearing, while allowing the accused to see and case’s file.