Revealed malicious methods of spreading rumors through "social media"
Dubai Police arrests suspects who tried to exploit Corona in fraud
Dubai Police seized 97 accused among the most dangerous international gangs.
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Colonel Saeed Al Hajri: “The strong digital infrastructure of Dubai Police helped them tackle crimes related to (Corona).”
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Colonel Saeed Al Hajri, Director of the Anti-Cybercrime Department at the General Department of Criminal Investigations in Dubai Police, confirmed that Dubai Police has a strong digital infrastructure that enabled it to thwart electronic crimes linked to the Corona pandemic, such as: fraud through electronic shopping, especially in the commodities that have met with high demand, Such as: masks, medical and sports equipment.
He told «Emirates Today» that fraudsters have played on the psychological chord of the victims, by offering fake jobs and obtaining sums from them, pointing to the arrest of suspects involved in these crimes, including an international gang in an operation called «hunting foxes».
For his part, the Deputy Director of the Anti-Cyber Crime Department, Captain Abdullah Al Shehhi, said that the administration played a role in monitoring the spreaders of rumors related to the Corona pandemic, indicating that many predators were trying to spread the rumor, by sending it through chat applications with a picture of a news story for an official newspaper, to give it A kind of credibility, although the body of the news is completely different from the content of those rumors, pointing to the existence of coordination with the sites and licensed news accounts, to delete offensive comments, or those that contain rumors and lies.
In detail, the Electronic Investigation Department of the General Department of Criminal Investigations and Investigations in Dubai Police placed 97 defendants among the most dangerous international gangs, during the past year, who would have caused losses estimated at 11 billion, 803 million and 728 thousand and 300 dirhams, to members of society through electronic fraud operations.
The Electronic Investigation Department registered 1078 technical assistance to restore compromised accounts on social media sites and programs, during the past year, which included cases of fraud and extortion, and it also detected strange requests from friends or acquaintances through social media, and it turned out to be an interface to electronic fraud.
Colonel Saeed Al Hajri confirmed that the strong digital infrastructure of Dubai Police helped it quickly adapt to the circumstances of the Corona pandemic, and address some types of crimes linked to the pandemic, such as: fraud through electronic shopping, through the promotion of medical equipment, masks and sports equipment, and the seizure of buyers' money without the arrival of goods. To them or sell them inferior products that differ from the offered.
He explained that the administration was keen on the worker in two parallel directions: the first: educating members of the community about these fraudulent methods, and emphasizing the need to purchase from accredited and credible sites, and the second: arresting fraudsters who commit these crimes from within the state, among them a famous gang that seized millions of dirhams by publishing Ads for fake jobs, or fake medical products and masks.
He pointed out that, according to the Law on Combating Information Technology Crimes, anyone who does not commit to sending the goods agreed upon (electronic shopping) is punished with imprisonment for a period of no less than one year, and a fine of not less than 250 thousand dirhams and not more than one million dirhams, or one of these two penalties. Between the website and the consumer, or in the absence of a commercial license, as well as anyone who promotes fake jobs, and gets money from the victims to complete the recruitment procedures, impersonating others.
In addition, Captain Abdullah Al Shehhi said that one of the crimes associated with the Corona pandemic is spreading rumors related to the efforts of the state, or misleading medical information, pointing to the arrest of a number of those involved in these crimes and referring them to the competent judicial authorities.
He pointed out that during that period, various methods of spreading rumors were monitored, most notably the transmission of rumors through chat applications with a picture of an official newspaper in the country, to give the rumor a kind of credibility, or to include it in the comments on the news published on the sites and licensed news accounts.
He explained that publishing the defendants ’photos, and quickly referring them to the competent judicial authorities, had a rapid and fundamental effect in reducing these crimes and deterring all those who were tempted to commit them.
In a related context, Al-Shehhi warned of what he described as “strange requests from friends and acquaintances via (social media),” pointing out that one of the accused, who was arrested, contacted a woman and asked for her phone number through a fake account he created in the name of her husband, and the latter did not know Except when his wife alerted him to that.
Spotting fake accounts
The Deputy Director of the Anti-Cyber Crime Department, Captain Abdullah Al Shehhi, revealed the decline in reports of electronic fraud, through accounts whose owners impersonate celebrities and public figures, and on the other hand, cases of fake accounts of ordinary people were detected, which are used by fraudsters to deceive the friends of these people.
He stressed the need to beware of receiving strange requests from friends or acquaintances, such as: asking for money without introductions, or in an unusual way before.
He stated that it is necessary to return to the friend by phone, if a message is received from him, asking for money contrary to what is expected or usual, because he may not be aware that a person has impersonated his identity, and is trying to defraud his friends and acquaintances in his name.
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