Can More Be Done About Scams In Dubai?
Last week we shared the story of a Lovin Dubai employee who got scammed out of AED3k.
It was an email scam. A digital hacker who claimed to be our boss told a Lovin Dubai employee that he needed help with an urgent task. The employee rushed to help out, purchased AED3k worth of iTunes vouchers and mailed them to the scammer before realising she had been duped.
When we shared this story, it became clear this is not a one-time thing and many of you have experienced similar scams.
We were inundated with messages from people who shared similar stories. Like Angelo, a Dubai photographer who reported the same thing, “the exact same thing happened to me, except I ended up paying AED10,000”.
Another reader reported losing AED20k in a similar scam, when ‘they used one of the senior’s at her company’s fake email’
Pickpocketing on Dubai streets is incredibly rare. Some people don’t lock their homes or their cars, Dubai is famously safe
We feel safe walking the streets at night, we feel safe on public transport, some people don’t lock their homes. Dubai is consistently ranked as one of the safest cities in the world, but recent cybercrime attacks prove our digital security might be at risk.
People can be targeted through phone and email scams; like my 70-year-old mum once gave her full banking details to a scammer over the phone in Dubai. She thought she had won a prize. Luckily she blocked the cards before they managed to take any money, but this type of phone scam is also common.
These are sophisticated scams designed to dupe you, they appear to look like they’re coming from a trusted source. A boss, a Dubai authority, a bank, so what can we do?
Firstly, use the Dubai Police app to report the crime immediately
Dubai Police are consistently warning people about online crimes. About how people are using different aliases online to extort money and we must be vigilant. If you are scammed, report the crime immediately to Police.
If you spot an email scam, you can also report it immediately within the email platform. Choose the option to report it as a phishing scam. People are being targeted via work emails, with a legit-looking message from a bank, a boss, or a local authority. Reporting these emails is so important to stamp out further behaviour.
What else can you do? Be vigilant! Always check the email of the sender. If the domain looks dodgy, chances are, it’s not a genuine email. A closer look at the scam within our company shows the email domain was not a company email.
