UAE | General

Fire, croc and mermaid latest e-mail spoofs

Hoax photos circulating around UAE are baffling residents; one shows a series of pictures of a building on fire.

  • By Bassma Al Jandaly, Alia Al Theeb, Binsal Abdul Kader and Alice Johnson, Staff Reporters
  • Published: 00:17 April 23, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • A number of hoax e-mails being circulated around the country are baffling residents.
  • Image Credit: Supplied photo
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Dubai/Abu Dhabi: A number of hoax e-mails being circulated around the country are baffling residents.

Two claim that crocodiles have been found, one says a mermaid has been discovered on Lulu Island and another that a fire has ravaged a high-rise building.

Gulf News received an e-mail on April 6 claiming that the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) had found a crocodile containing human body parts in Hatta, which proved to be untrue.

A new e-mail claims that a second crocodile was found at the Al Warqa water desalination plant in Dubai, however, the photo has been doctored to cover visible brand names.

Gulf News contacted the Dewa laboratory, but they denied that a crocodile had been found at the desalination plant. The Dewa official asked people not to panic. There was never any crocodile in the water. The hoax e-mail said it had originated from Dewa, but this too was denied by the official

Another claimed that a Dubai tower was on fire. While the photo is genuine, it is not clear when it was taken or its location.

It is also stamped with a genuine photographer's name, although he was not available for comment. Gulf News contacted the police and civil defence, but officials denied a blaze had ravaged a tower.

The third e-mail has photos of a "mermaid" found on an Abu Dhabi island. Some of the recipients said the originality of the pictures convinced them that mermaids did exist. Many of them said they had not much information on mermaids except for fairy tales heard during childhood.

The mail which has been widely circulated among UAE residents shows seven pictures of a creature, saying "real mermaids have been found on Lulu Island in Abu Dhabi."

The Environmental Agency-Abu Dhabi, in a statement issued to Gulf News said: "Mermaids do not exist and never have done according to scientific record.

"They are mythological so it would be impossible to have a real mermaid. The photograph is clearly a hoax."

Website: How to spot a scam

According to the site hoaxslayer.com, there are two types of fake e-mail - hoaxes and spamming.

The former are created by computer users who might create stories to see how far their fake stories will travel, while 'spammers' send out mass e-mails to perhaps collect e-mail addresses or steal funds or identities.

An example cited by hoaxslayer.com is the Bonsai Kittens website, that claimed people were creating cats with different shaped heads by squashing their faces for long periods of time into boxes. A petition was set up calling for authorities to close the site, despite the fact that the site was a hoax.

Information about how to spot a hoax and how to deal with spam, can be found on hoaxslayer.com


Your comments


The third photo was a hoax. I received that picture maybe three years ago from my friend in Saudi Arabia, and it mentioned the place in Malaysia. Technology now is so advanced they can make up anything they want, so please don't believe what you see on the net.
Jose
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 23, 2008, 09:35

I have also received the same email, along with these photos, ten months ago. Only now have I come to know that these are untrue. Thanks Gulf News.
Jahabar
Abu Dabi,UAE
Posted: April 23, 2008, 09:14

The way to spot a scam is to do an internet search. If you receive such emails, just Google it and you will know the truth behind it.
Adnan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: April 23, 2008, 09:03

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