4 scammers jailed for defrauding a woman via WhatsApp in Dubai

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Dubai Public Prosecution referred four defendants to the Misdemeanour Court on the charge of fraudulently appropriating money from a woman after luring her through a part-time advertisement she received via WhatsApp.

In the ad, she was subsequently tempted to make a quick profit by sending money to them, which was to be returned many times over, the woman told the authorities.

The defendants were found involved in committing fraud via the Internet. Therefore, the court sentenced two defendants, who appeared during the hearing session to three months in prison to be followed by deportation. In addition, the other convicts, who are still at large, received the same term in absentia.

Chancellor Nasser Mohammed Al Mamari, Head of Deira Prosecution, who conducted the interrogation, explained that the rationale behind the victim's exploitation by cybercriminals was the initial promise of an uncomplicated position beside her existing job.

This would entail clicking the "like" button on visual content selected by the team, communicating with her via WhatsApp, and subsequently receiving remuneration.

Upon sensing her desire for expedient profit, the criminals lured her into another scheme, namely the transfer of funds from her account to a third party in order to facilitate a trade.

She initially remitted Dhs30, subsequently returning Dhs60 to her personal account and then remitting Dhs100, which were in turn returned to her account with an additional Dhs150.

She then proceeded to double the amount, sending a total of Dhs300. Once the victim had been induced to place further trust in the criminals and was convinced that the money would be returned at twice the original amount, they requested that she transfer a further sum, in order that she would receive a multiple of the original amount.

She remitted a sum of Dhs5,000, yet received nothing in return. Consequently, she deemed herself to have been the victim of deception and duly reported the incident to the relevant security authorities.

Two of the suspect were arrested and subjected to questioning, during which information was elicited regarding the whereabouts of the remaining two fugitives.

The prosecution charged the defendants with committing fraud via the Internet, and demanded that they be punished in accordance with the articles of the Criminal and Penal Code and the Law on Combating Rumours and Cybercrime set forth in the indictment.

The court handed down a sentence of three months' imprisonment and deportation from the country to the defendants, both present and absent.