In two separate cases, Abu Dhabi Police arrested an illegal farmer, a laundry worker and a cleaner, for telemarketing fake awards, to swindle money out of their victims.
Abu Dhabi Police reiterated its warning to members of the community, to be wary of fraudulent messages received by phone or e-mail; that delude receivers about winning valuable prizes.
Colonel Dr. Rashid Mohammed Bourshid, Head of Criminal Investigation Department at Abu Dhabi Police, stressed that, despite the little information provided by victims in their depositions, the team in charge of this mission managed to track, identify and arrest the swindlers; although some of them had taken false IDs and names.
He noted that the total amount that swindlers pilfered from their victims amounted to more than AED 67,000 in both cases; namely; bank transfers of AED 14,000; phone recharge cards (9 cards, of a value of AED 500 each) in the first case; and bank transfers, phone recharge cards of a total of AED 53,000, in the second case. Work is currently underway to restore the loot.
Colonel Bourshid stated that the suspects deluded the victims of winning valuable prizes by phone or by SMS, demanding the transfer of phone balance and bank transfers to the sender, in order to allegedly complete the procedures to receive the fake awards.
Giving details on the first case, Colonel Bourshid explained that the 26-year-old suspect, S.H.R, (a farmer, absconding from his sponsor) was arrested after receiving a notification from an Italian victim, stating that he was deluded by an anonymous, into thinking that he has won AED half a million from a phone service provider.
He said: “As soon as the suspect was apprehended in Ajman, in coordination and collaboration with the Emirate’s Police, he confessed to his involvement in the crime and other similar incidents. Moreover, it turned out that he is an illegal resident, using a false ID.
Moreover, after searching the suspect’s place of residence, Police recovered 78 SIM cards from service providers, registered under several names, as well as balance statements and logs containing phone numbers to contact members of the public. The police also found a variety of phones, credit cards, bank transfer receipts, identification cards and copies thereof, foreign currencies, and other tools used to delude victims by phone.
In the second case, Colonel Bourshid explained that a 29-year-old laundry worker, “J.B”, and a 25-year-old cleaner, “M.A”, were arrested in cooperation and coordination with the Al Sharjah Police. In details, police received a call from a Pakistani victim, stating that he was deluded by an anonymous, into thinking that he has won AED half a million from a phone service provider.
Police was able to recover from their place of residence, 14 SIM cards from phone service providers; a variety of phones, credit cards, bank transfer receipts, and other tools used to delude victims by phone.
The two suspects acknowledged their involvement in the crime; as well as carrying out illegal activities. Moreover, they also confessed the methods they used to swindle members of the public out of their money, namely; reselling phone balances for less than their actual prices.
The Head of Criminal Investigation Department at Abu Dhabi Police deplored the recurrence of such incidents. He also pointed out that law enforcement agencies had repeatedly tried to raise public awareness on the various methods and processes of fraud; calling on community members to use their good judgment.
Notably, the Ministry of Interior had previously launched an extensive awareness and warning campaign, in cooperation