They regret losing their money.. and the list is not limited to those with limited awareness

"Naivety and greed" fall victims into the trap of electronic fraud

• Youssef Al-Ali: “The increase in the cybercrime index, despite the decrease in the lawsuits index, reflects the spread of these crimes globally and the ease of their implementation.”

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Greed for quick gain, lack of awareness of fraud methods, many of which are old and naive, and the ease of carrying out the crime remotely are common factors behind many people falling into the trap of electronic fraud, according to the Chief Prosecutor of the Bur Dubai Prosecution, Counselor Youssef Amin Al-Ali, who indicated that the victims lament In some cases, they blame themselves for rushing without thinking behind an irrational temptation, which led to the loss of their savings or a large part of it.

Al-Ali told Emirates Today that there are several cases of people who were easy prey for these fraudsters, due to misconduct, such as an Asian who paid sums of 600,000 dirhams to win a fake prize of one million dirhams, and another Gulf citizen who paid 260,000 in greed for the prize.

He added that electronic fraudsters are constantly developing their methods, and the competent security services are on the lookout for them, as well as the Public Prosecution and the authorities related to awareness and deterrence, but the problem remains in naively falling into old methods, of which awareness has been raised over the years, such as communicating from outside the country, and claiming that there are Amounts withheld in another country for various reasons, and a request to participate in order to withdraw this money, or win a grand prize.

He pointed out that the Public Prosecution Office in Dubai recorded an increase in the cybercrime index during the year 2022 by up to 59%, with 562 crimes, compared to 353 electronic crimes recorded during the year before last, despite the sharp decrease in the index of the total cases recorded by the Public Prosecution in the same period last year.

He explained that the total cases registered by the Bur Dubai Prosecution Office during the period from the beginning of January to December 22 of last year amounted to 7,765 cases, which included 293 electronic crimes, compared to 17,107 criminal cases during the same period in 2021, which included only 153 electronic crimes.

Counselor Youssef Amin Al-Ali said, "The increase in the cybercrime index, despite the decrease in the lawsuit index in general, reflects the spread of these crimes globally, due to the ease of their implementation, as the criminal does not need to move or risk himself, but can commit it thousands of miles away from another country." He is hiding behind a computer screen.

He added that the Public Prosecution in Dubai monitors through lawsuits different methods of electronic fraud crimes as the most common, given the great gains that fraudsters reap with little effort and less risk, including targeting bank customers via e-mail, so the fraudster designs a website that is almost identical to the bank's page. , and sends a message to the customer requesting to update his data by entering the site through a link, and when he enters it, he finds the fake bank page, and it contains the username and password, and as soon as he registers his data, it reaches the fraudster who exploits it to seize his balance.

He added that among the methods as well, hacking e-mail correspondence between two companies, by creating an email similar to the email of one of the two companies, impersonating it, and addressing the other, claiming to change the bank account number, and asking the target company to transfer the amounts owed to it to a new account, which often exists. In the country in the name of a person who does not know that he is being exploited by fraudsters to receive money and transfer it later to them or deliver it to them in some way.

He pointed out that the two previous methods depend on deceiving the victim, and taking advantage of his lack of awareness or lack of attention, but there are other methods that depend on seducing the victim, and playing on his greed, such as the case of an Arab person, who was very harsh on himself when he entered the office of the chief prosecutor, stressing that responsible for what happened to him.

He added that the man reported that he had met a well-groomed and elegant African person, who convinced him that he was the son of an important figure in his country, inherited a large sum, and wanted to invest it in the Emirates, and asked him to participate in paying customs clearance fees, pointing out that the fraudster your love deceived him by accompanying him to the clearance office, and they stood together on The door of the building, then asked him to wait for him, after he took the money from him, and entered through the main door.

Al-Ali indicated that the victim tried to be careful, so he insisted on accompanying him, and he remained in front of the building waiting for the good news, but he waited for a long time, so he decided to enter to be reassured, and was surprised that the fraudster entered from one door and exited from another door, and he had 150 thousand dirhams that the victim paid him.

He pointed out that the fraudsters target groups who are less aware, or who are not familiar with the situation in the country, and despite the efforts made to control and deter them, they do not think much about the consequences, as what someone can earn in one operation makes him rich in his country.

Regarding the sources of their obtaining information about the victims, especially from bank clients, Counselor Youssef Amin Al-Ali said that there are various sources, such as employment companies that record applicants' data, such as a photo ID or a copy of the bank account, and they use this information to psychologically manipulate the victims.

He pointed out that the Public Prosecution, the police, banks, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, and other relevant authorities have launched intensive awareness campaigns, on the need not to disclose any confidential data to anyone, whoever they may be, but some people still fall into this trap, and we have cases in which the victims lost sums of up to To 250 thousand dirhams or more, pointing out that fraudsters target the elderly, or those who are new to electronic systems.

He revealed that fraud cases were recorded using old and naive methods, such as contacting the person and informing him of winning a grand prize, pointing out that an Asian paid the fraudsters 600 thousand dirhams, and another from the Gulf paid 260 thousand dirhams, but that people who were supposed to be aware and knowledgeable fell into the same trap.

Al-Ali stressed that the fraudster plays on the greed of his victim, so there is a need to adhere to easy and clear steps to avoid any fraud attempt, the most important of which is not to disclose any data via phone or e-mail, and not to click on suspicious links, and above all, to think carefully before falling. a victim of greed.

An Asian sacrifices 600,000 dirhams to win a million.

The Dubai Public Prosecution records an increase in cybercrime, despite the decrease in criminal cases.

getting information

The Chief Prosecutor of the Bur Dubai Prosecution Office, Counselor Youssef Amin Al-Ali, said that obtaining information in advance is one of the main factors in luring bank customers with telephone fraud. On the “forgot password” box, the bank will automatically send one password to the victim’s phone who is on the line with the fraudster at the same time, and in a moment of inattention and unawareness, it tells the criminal the password, and he uses it to seize his balance.

293

An electronic crime recorded by the Bur Dubai Prosecution Office during the period from the beginning of January to the 22nd of December of last year.

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