European woman defrauded of Dhs39,000 in a phone scam in Dubai

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Criminal Court in Dubai handed down a one-year prison sentence, a fine of Dhs39,900, and deportation from the country to an Asian man, following his conviction on charges of forging of a card, impersonating a police officer, and seizing the amount of the fine from a woman's account after deceiving her.

He reportedly committed the crime in complicity with another person who is still at large.

The details of the case date back to July 2022, when a European woman filed a report stating that she had been defrauded of a sum of money from her account.

She stated that the accused contacted her via telephone and introduced himself as a police officer from the Public Funds Investigation Department, claiming that he was tasked with updating the data of account holders residing in the UAE.

The plaintiff explained that she initially declined to provide the accused with her personal data. However, he subsequently reinforced his claim by sending a card purportedly from the police via WhatsApp.

He then demanded that she furnish him with her card, ID, and passport data, in addition to the one-time password (OTP) she had received on her phone number.

He justified this by claiming that he needed to verify the sources of her funds, threatening that she would otherwise be held legally accountable.

Following the conclusion of the telephone conversation, she was astonished to discover that a sum of Dhs39,900 had been transferred from her bank account to an alternative account.

Consequently, she endeavoured to establish communication with the accused, but he had terminated the call. She proceeded to notify the relevant authorities, namely the police and the bank, with a view to having the card deactivated.

A police officer stated that an investigation team had gathered evidence and identified the accused, who was subsequently arrested.

During questioning, the accused admitted to being the owner of the account used in the fraudulent operation.

He asserted that an individual of his nationality had opened the bank account via electronic means, having provided him with photographic documentation of his identity, passport, and residency.

A debit card was subsequently issued for the aforementioned bank account, which was received by the defendant and subsequently transferred to the fugitive, who proceeded to utilise it to withdraw the sums that had been transferred.

The court found him guilty and imposed the aforementioned sentence.