Al Habtoor warns about fake Arabic newspaper in UAE spreading rumours about the company

Dubai: Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, founding chairman of Al Habtoor Group (AHG), has raised an alarm about a website impersonating 'Al Ittihad', one of UAE’s Arabic newspapers.

According to Al Habtoor, the fake website (www.alittihadae.com) has posted fake news on September 8 about a young man who allegedly became a millionaire after investing in a nonexistent company that was said to belong to AHG.

Al Habtoor said he was alerted by people inquiring about the authenticity of the news as they had been contacted to invest in a new project.

“I was shocked and disappointed to learn about this fraudulent attempt to deceive people and embezzle their hard-earned money. I thank everyone who contacted me directly and my office. I am sure there are many people who have been scammed that we do not know about,” Al Habtoor noted.

“I would like to warn everyone approached by these scammers not to believe in their words. News of such importance to our company would be announced officially by our offices through the appropriate channels. I urge people not to fall for such scams,” he added.

Legal action

Al Habtoor said: “The AHG legal team has registered a complaint against this website and has submitted all information to Dubai Police to help put an end to this fraud. We have also informed Al Ittihad newspaper in Abu Dhabi about the con since their good name has been implicated.”

The fake news website also owns a duplicitous Instagram account under the handle @alitthadae80, with more than 19,000 followers.