Dubai Police arrest suspects promoting fake traffic fine discounts on social media

The Anti-Fraud Team of the General Department of Criminal Investigation at Dubai Police have arrested suspects who promoted fraudulent advertisements on social media, claiming to offer significant discounts on traffic fines ranging from 30% to 70%.

Police investigations revealed that the perpetrators stole credit card data either through electronic phishing schemes or by purchasing stolen data from suspicious sources, and then used these cards to pay traffic fines for victims lured by the deceptive ads.

The fraudsters then asked to meet the victims in person, collect cash payments from them, and then settle the full fine amount using the stolen cards.

After confirming the payment in the system, they would ask the victims to pay half the amount in cash as a supposed "saving.”

Dubai Police emphasised that this act constitutes a dual crime involving both bank data theft and financial fraud. The police also warned that victims could be considered accomplices in case they were proved to know about the crime.

Police urged the public not to fall for such fraudulent offers, stressing that official channels for paying traffic fines are clearly defined by relevant police authorities. All were also called on to instantly report similar attempts through the "Police Eye" service or the 901 call centre.