Electronic blackmail, material and romantic fraud … crimes active “seasonal”

The Director of the Electronic Crime Control Department of the General Administration of Investigations and Criminal Investigation at Dubai Police, Brigadier Saeed Al -Hajri, said that there are crimes active in certain seasons, such as collecting donations electronically illegally in the month of Ramadan, and revealed in this context the seizure of a person who was collecting donations for distribution to work Khairiya, and it turned out that he achieved richness behind this, bought real estate in his name, as non -profit associations were seized illegally, and exploited influential to promote their activities.

Al -Hajri warned against falling into the trap He pointed out that among the victims is a person who was entirely depleted to his savings, and lost more than 900 thousand dirhams.

Al -Hajri touched, during a meeting with “Arab Cast”, to the crime of romantic fraud, and he was victims of complex material and psychological depletions due to their occurrence in the evil of these fraudsters, including an elderly European woman who lost all her savings, which amounts to about 12 million dirhams, after being lured before before An African nationality who claimed to be a handsome young man residing in Dubai, so women sold all their possessions and transformed their value to him, in addition to their money, and moved to Dubai to discover their occurrence in a tight trap.

Al -Hajri said that the problem in this incident is that the fraud itself does not live in Dubai, but rather resides in one of the African state, pointing out that it had informed the police and all the measures that help it were taken, so the team identified the identity of the fraud and its location, and he met with the link officer for the international prosecution, The information was delivered to the concerned diplomatic authorities, and the situation moved to another department.

Al -Hajri explained that these crimes are not limited to targeting women only, but also men also fall into a lower percentage, pointing out that the fraud is emotionally manipulating his victim until he falls into his net, and then begins to drain them in a cold blood in a style closer to the skinning of the prey.

Al -Hajri pointed out that social media and acquaintance sites facilitated these fraudsters using what is known as the “social engineering” of the victim, as most of the pioneers of these platforms offer all the details of their personal lives through their accounts, so the fraudster is well taught, determines its weaknesses, and then manipulates it by focusing on its interests .

He continued: “Imagine that a person knows everything about you, your social, material, and psychological state, and whether you are emotionally imbued or suffer from loneliness and emptiness, and add to this that this person is a professional in fraud, and has a great ability to manipulate.”

He pointed out that the problem that was facing traditional fraudsters is the study of the people who targeted them, but “Social Media” simply provided them with solutions.

He explained that “social engineering” may be an easy way to fall into the trap of electronic blackmail crimes, which have decreased significantly compared to previous years due to increased awareness.

He pointed out that the Dubai Police contributed to controlling crimes carried out by gangs in other countries, such as a gang that targeted wealthy people and was using influences and actresses to catch the victims, and depicting them in inappropriate conditions, and then blackmailing them and obtaining large sums, given their reasons for society.

He continued that one of these victims came to the Emirates and submitted a communication to Dubai Police, so the accused was seized, which is from the influences of the “social media”, and the necessary measures were taken against it.

He stated that criminals usually target people who suffer emotional void and loneliness, warning against silence if exposed to this crime, and submitting to the blackman because it destroys his victim emotionally and psychologically.

He pointed out that these people entered into violent swirls, and one of them lost all his savings, which amount to more than 900 thousand dirhams, where he turned it to the blackmailer to leave it, but they took advantage of him with the worst of what they could, indicating that the administration team was able to determine the identity of the accused even though he resides outside the state And coordination with the specialized authorities there and arrest him, and appealed to those who are exposed to this crime, resorting to the specialized authorities, stressing that the Dubai Police deal with these cases in the utmost secrecy, and there are specialized officers to track the impact of criminals and protect the victim, as well as providing psychological support to him, to This said that there are crimes that are active in certain seasons, such as collecting donations illegally in the month of Ramadan through unlicensed bodies.

He added that a person who was collecting donations was arrested illegally, after he identified a number of good deeds, and it was found that he was using them in enriching himself, and bought real estate with these amounts and recorded them in his name.

He continued that these unlicensed bodies collect information about people who are usually expressing solidarity and sympathy for the work of charity, and they target them with campaigns through links away from the legal cover of these activities, which is the General Authority for Islamic Affairs, Endowments and Zakat, pointing out that the authority has the judicial seizure to deal with these, But coordinates with the police being more familiar with the mechanism of creating a file for the case and taking legal measures.

Al -Hajri warned against responding to unlicensed bodies, because it is possible to be an interface to hide other crimes such as money laundering, and the donor was unintentionally involved in these practices, pointing to the seizure of non -profit associations that committed these abuses, and used influencers in promoting their activities.

He revealed that there is a person of an Arab nationality that established a website in the name of a noble purpose, and brought some influencers to promote it, and it lasted for three full years collecting donations through this site, taking advantage of these celebrities until it was seized and found that he did this without a license, as was investigated with The influencers who were involved in his propaganda and give a kind of legitimacy to his practices.

On the involvement of some influencers in electronic crimes, taking advantage of their fame and follow -up by a large number of people, Al -Hajri said that the law does not distinguish between a person and others, and people do not hold people accountable according to the number of their followers, pointing to the influential involvement of issues that are not commensurate with legal media content, and they were held accountable like Any normal person, as fame cannot allow its owner to bully or use phrases that urge racism, hatred, or any kind of abuse.

• The fraudster takes advantage of what is known as the “social engineering” of the victim, through the details of the personal life published on social media, to determine the weaknesses and start the manipulation process.

• Dubai Police is dealing with extremes in the utmost confidentiality, and there are specialists to track the impact of criminals and provide psychological support to the victim.