Starting at $150 for regular pages and $20,000 for celebrity accounts

"Hackers" offer electronic "hacking" services...and the law punishes those involved

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Unidentified people publish advertisements confirming their ability to access any site or page on social media, hack it, and seize its password, while those involved in requesting this type of services are punished by law.

Advertisers offer those wishing to seize an account or website to take advantage of their capabilities, in exchange for sums of money that vary depending on the importance of the website or online account to be hacked.

Sharjah Police confirmed that most electronic crimes occur as a result of lack of awareness, either by leniency with incoming messages and with the unknown links they carry, or by using fake and untrusted sites in commercial transactions, or by trusting unknown people from "electronic trolls", and yielding to their demands, warning against trust. To mail messages that involve requests for personal or banking data.

The Communications Regulatory Authority and the Digital Government have also warned of the danger of fraudulent messages that delude the recipient that the sender is a trusted company, and invite him to click on certain links or send private information by phone, e-mail, or otherwise, which leads to entrapment of the recipient in fraud.

In detail, advertisements spread through social media, calling on those wishing to hack personal accounts and restore stolen accounts and websites to communicate via WhatsApp, and pay a sum of money in "dollars" in exchange for completing the "penetration" services for them.

"Emirates Today" contacted the publisher of one of the ads, who confirmed his willingness to hack any account on "Facebook" after receiving the link to the requested page.

He also confirmed his willingness to seize the password, and sell it to whoever wishes to obtain it.

With regard to the “fees,” or the financial cost, he said, “It is determined based on the nature of the account to be hacked. If the account is not owned by a famous person, it will not exceed $150, but if it belongs to a celebrity, the fees start from $1,000 and rise up to It amounts to 20,000, in direct proportion to the importance of the person or entity that owns it.”

In turn, the Communications Regulatory Authority and the Digital Government confirmed the emergence of new methods and methods of fraud, in recent times, represented by the presence of advertisements on the search site “Google” or advertisements on social media channels, claiming to be famous selling sites, and with the specifications of the original site, and sometimes better than Same original site.

She pointed to the occurrence of multiple fraud crimes in this way, as fraudsters take advantage of the names of major brands to reach their victims, and embezzle their money, after being able to persuade them to buy fake products.

The authority indicated that it had launched a campaign to raise awareness of online fraud, in light of its role in protecting users from electronic fraud.

And it broadcasted an awareness video on its official page on “Instagram”, in which it alerted the user to the possibility of receiving a link bearing the phrase “Download the golden Facebook application”, the “Diamond Twitter” application, or the “Bronze Snapchat”.

"These applications are supposed to include additional features, but they are just a trap to collect users' information, which makes them easy prey for hacking," she said.

It also warned, on its website, of the danger of fraudulent messages that delude the recipient that the sender is a trusted company, and invite him to click on certain links or send private information by phone, e-mail or otherwise, which leads to his entrapment of electronic fraud.

For his part, the Director of the Cybercrime Branch in the Department of Criminal Investigation and Investigation in Sharjah Police, Major Mohsen Ahmed Muhammad, confirmed that hacking accounts and social media applications is done by impersonating the owner of the account, and then communicating with close people to defraud them, warning against dealing with “hackers.” and involvement in any electronic violation of this kind.

He explained that the Department of Criminal Investigation and Investigation has a technical team specialized in dealing with electronic crimes, both common and emerging, that handles all communications that come to it, conducts technical investigations on them, and subsequently restores the hacked accounts to their owners, and secures them to avoid any future electronic breaches.

He stressed that most electronic crimes occur as a result of electronic lack of awareness, either by leniency with incoming electronic messages and the unknown links they carry, or through the use of fake and untrusted sites in commercial transactions, or by trusting unknown people and falling victim to “hackers” or “electronic trolls.” He called not to trust e-mails that contain warnings or requests related to personal or banking data, and not to open any attachments in suspicious e-mails until after verifying their source, and not to disclose any personal information such as your personal identification number or password.

For his part, a member of the Federal National Council, Dirar Al-Houl Al-Falasi, said that cybercrime is linked to technological progress in the field of communications and information, as it is an open window on societies due to the diversity of its fields and ease of access, and the daily dependence on electronic means after it has become part of human life, progress and development. It makes it one of the most common threats facing countries in the field of cybercrime.

He added, "Therefore, we see the importance of the legal step enacted by the United Arab Emirates in the matter of combating rumors and cybercrime."

He explained that «the second article of the law punishes the perpetrators of electronic hacking crimes with imprisonment and a fine of not less than 100,000 dirhams and not more than 300,000 dirhams, or one of these two penalties.

If the breach results in damage, destruction, or suspension of work, the penalty shall be imprisonment for a period of no less than six months and a fine of no less than 150 thousand dirhams.

Al Falasi stressed that “cybercrime requires us to redouble official and unofficial efforts to confront various electronic fraud crimes, by adopting the latest technologies, mechanisms and network security solutions, and educating community members about the importance of adhering to preventive measures, and not exposing themselves to electronic extortion by making available or publishing private information. or confidential data.

For his part, the IT expert, Dr. Osama Mustafa, stressed the need to link the private account on social media with two verification features, so that you receive a message as soon as you try to hack the account as an insurance measure that prevents its theft.

He said that some scammers resort to sending codes via email or SMS under the pretext that the account is being hacked.

The message asks the user to click on a specific link to restore his account, impersonate a bank, or provide temptations that push the user to open the link, which makes it easier for the hacker to obtain the email and password, and then steal the account.

Mustafa warned against opening any link without verifying its authenticity.

He demanded immediate access to the e-mail to which the account is linked to monitor any messages received from the social networking site regarding insurance procedures.

Lawyer and legal expert, Dr. Mohsen Mohamed, said that the development of technologies and devices requires that legislation keep pace with this development to ensure the provision of a comprehensive legal framework to protect society from cybercrime, in which information networks, computer technologies and automated devices are the crime scene.

He noted that the UAE has updated the laws and legislations related to combating cybercrime, to prevent criminal behavior in this aspect.

He added that the law defines penetration as unauthorized access to or in violation of the provisions of the license or illegal entry, or illegal stay in an information system, computer, device operating system, machine, vehicle, information network and the like.

With regard to identifying crimes against information technology means, the crime of electronic penetration comes in the forefront due to the spread of information technology means in society, and the revolution in the field of communication and communication.

5 ways to report

The UAE government has recently identified, on its website, five means through which victims of cybercrime, which are committed through cyberspace, computers and networks, can report:

■ Dubai Police eCrime platform.

■ Aman Service - Abu Dhabi Police.

■ The smart application "My Community is Safe" launched by the Federal Public Prosecution in June 2018.

■ Police stations, call 999 to request assistance.

■ Report prohibited content to ISPs in the UAE

- Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and Digital Government.

account hacking

A person named "MA" was subjected to a hacking of his electronic account.

He said in a complaint to "Emirates Today": "I received a message via (Facebook) with a link from a person confirming that I won 50 thousand dirhams for an automatic withdrawal.

After opening the link, I was surprised that it was an unidentified website, and then I found a malfunction in the (Facebook) account, only to discover that my account had been taken over and changed its password.

A few hours later, I received a letter asking me for 10 thousand dirhams to return the account to me again.”

He added that he created a new account and added his friends list to him, after informing them of the theft of his previous account, and asking them not to open any messages that reach them through it.

Major Mohsen Ahmed Mohamed:

“Crimes occur as a result of leniency with e-mails and the anonymous links or fake websites they carry.”

Dirar Belhoul Al Falasi:

“Cybercrime is linked to technological progress in the field of communications and information.”

Communication organization:

Fraudulent messages that delude the recipient that their sender is a trusted company that entraps the recipient in the net of electronic fraud.

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