Dubai: Dubai police have arrested an African man who conned two people in a black money scam and illegally obtained $10,000 (Dh36,730) from them.
Brigadier Salem Al Rumaithi, Director of the General Department of Criminal and Investigation at Dubai Police, said the African suspect had the two victims believe he could change their $10,000 to 500,000 euros using a special printer.
He said the two men, an Asian and an European man, contacted the suspect via e-mail and they agreed to meet in a hotel room in Dubai.
“They said he put $1,000 in the printer slot and the money was doubled. He asked them to take the doubled money to the exchange house to exchange it into dirhams and the money was found to be real. After he gained their trust, he convinced them he could double their money,” Brigadier Al Rumaithi said.
When the victims gave $10,000 to the suspect to transform it to 500,000 euros, he did the vanishing act and switched off his phone.
Lt Col Omar Mohammad Bin Hammad, deputy director of the Anti-Economic Crime Department at Dubai Police, said it was the first scam operation by the suspect and he was arrested within 24 hours.
“We identified the suspect and his location. He was living alone in an apartment in a neighbouring emirate. We arrested him and seized the printer and found fake money worth millions of dollars and euros,” Lt Col Bin Hammad added.
The suspect confessed that he was using the printer to con people into believing he could double the money. He said a friend gave it to him and he modified the printer to make it print money in front of the victims.
Police said the suspect possessed fake money, about $10 million and 500,000 euros, and he used to put real money inside the printer to con his victims. Police said the suspect was staying illegally in the country and was referred to Dubai Public Prosecution to complete the investigation.
Lt Col Bin Hammad, urged the public not to be fooled in such money-doubling scams and to call police immediately or go to the nearest police station if contacted by such people.
“Despite repeated warnings to the public about this scam, still some get people conned and give their money to conmen. Our efforts have helped reduce the rates of such kind of crimes,” Lt Col Bin Hammad said.
