Picture used for illustrative purpose only.

The Dubai Police via their eCrime platform tackled 9, 046 cybercrime complaints and recovered 1, 277 affected social media accounts, said a senior cybercrimes investigation officer.

Since the launch of the platform on May 1 last year police have dealt with 9, 046 complaints lodged by members of the public according to a report from the Dubai Police CID’s Department of Electronic Investigation.

The platform receives online crime reports and complaints, including community-based ones such as threats, extortion, hacking, fraud and hijacking accounts, said the department’s Deputy Director Captain Abdullah Al Shehhi.

“The 9, 046 complaints included 1, 277 requests for technical assistance. These resulted in the recovery of 1, 177 Whatsapp accounts, 90 Instagram accounts, and 10 Facebook/Snapchat accounts,” Al Shehhi revealed

He was addressing a press conference held in the police’s Department of Security Media in the presence of the Dubai Police Commander-in-Chief Maj. Gen. Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri and a number of officers and journalists.

“Dubai Police launched new technologies in various sectors to protect the community. These have contributed significantly in the process of speeding response to this type of crimes and communications,” he explained.

“In the past, a cybercrime victim would get stranded not knowing who to complain to or where to go. One would ask oneself whether to call 901 or 999 or head to a police station or seek help from telecom service providers.

“E-crime reporting wasted time and effort. After the launch of the platform at www.ecrime.ae, the process became faster, easier and smoother. The time factor in this type of crime contributes significantly to addressing it.”

Globally, cybercrimes of all sorts are accelerating continuously due to the increased use of technologies in the field of services, and the migration of many communities to the use of smart systems in their daily transactions.

This creates continuous security challenges that require continuous work in the development of anti-cybercrimes technologies and sectors that address these phenomena and dismantle them.

“Such crimes require instant response from law enforcement authorities. A person subjected to blackmail or fraud for example needs quick response on how to save his cash, account or data from being exploited by attackers.

“There was a need to provide rapid response through a specialised, integrated platform easy to use by members of the public. One that can help security personnel deal immediately with these crimes,” Al Shehhi concluded.

Dubai Police launched the platform in collaboration with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and Dubai Electronic Security Center as an integrated system for monitoring and solving cybercrimes cases in Dubai.