DUBAI: A Dubai based man has become the latest victim of a Rolls-Royce driving serial fraudster who duped dozens out of their vehicles in recent months.
Sudanese Mohammed Omar, 28, says he still can’t believe how he got fooled into accepting a dud cheque from ‘the sweet-talking Arab’ who came dressed in a white kandoura and a sparkling Rolls-Royce to buy his car – a top of the line 2014 Mini Countryman he recently put up on sale for Dh120,000.
In a reprise of the scam, reported by XPRESS in the past, Omar says he got a call from the conman soon after he had posted an ad for his car on a popular classifieds website.
A meeting was set up for the following evening and the deal, he says, was done in a flash, leaving him with no time to think. “His charade was so convincing, complete with a Rolls-Royce no less, that I hardly suspected that he could be a scammer,” says Omar, who works as a logistics officer in a Dubai-based multinational company. “He claimed he was from rich family, identifying himself as one Abdulrahman Al Falasi and that he wanted the car urgently for his younger brother. It was almost 9pm but he said he was travelling to Saudi Arabia for Umra the next day and so he had to complete the transaction the same evening.
Convincing charade
“Looking at his appearance and of course his car, I got sold on his story,” rued Omar who went with the man to the showroom to get the paperwork done. Just after signing on the dotted line however Omar says he got a nasty surprise.
“He said he had no cash on him and that he could only give a cash cheque, which was as good as real money. He coaxed me to believe him by saying that the sale would be ‘authorised’ only once the payment has gone through. I had second thoughts but somehow he and his so-called brother, who identified himself as Eisa Al Jasmi and joined him at the showroom later, managed to convince me,” recalled Omar.
After spending a restless night before finally making his way to the bank, Omar says his worst fears came true. “The teller told me that the account was closed. When I spoke to another lady at the branch, she said a similar incident had taken place just about a week ago,” added Omar, who next reported the matter to police.
“I feel as if I have been robbed in broad daylight. I wanted to sell the car hoping to get some cash but in the end I gave it away for nothing. Even the police at this moment are treating this as a mere cheque case and not a crime,” said the man. Omar is the third victim reported by XPRESS in recent times. Only last month, a Pakistani man was tricked into parting with his 2013 BMW-6 series sedan for a Dh185,000 dud cheque.
XPRESS can confirm that the Arab man who conned the Pakistani is the same fraudster who has duped scores of other car owners using the same modus operandi.
Among his many victims was also S.R. who was tricked into parting with her 2015 Nissan Patrol SE last September for a Dh230,000 cheque that also turned out to be dud.
YOUSPEAK: What can be done to prevent the recurring scam?
