I recently had the shock of my life that somebody had issued an unauthorised connection from du under my name (by using my Emirates ID copy). It has been one month since I have made a complaint with du and called several times afterwards to get a feedback but did not get any positive response. I received a call from du, mentioning that my case has been closed, and I have to pay the total bill amount of approximately Dh1,100.
I argued that my original ID was not used to issue this connection as it clearly shows in the form that a copy was made from a photocopy of my ID and not from the original. Plus the signature on the form does not match with the signatures on my ID.
The email address, contact numbers, and all other details mentioned on the form does not belong to me other than the first and last name.
I don’t know how du got my Emirates ID. May be someone who got a copy of my ID (as I provided ID copy to some real estate agents or and some of my clients for business purpose) so someone misused that and issued a connection under my name. But the point is, how did it get issued on a photocopy? And the new connection was issued in May 2017 in Sharjah, while at the same time I was using a home connection in Dubai for the past nine years.
1. How can du offer home connections for the same client who already has an existing home connection?
2. I never lived in Sharjah ever in my life. I can show you proof of my residence in Dubai when this other connection was issued in Sharjah.
3. This is a case of fraudulent scam. Someone stole my identity and issued a false connection under my name. While a du agent helped him with this scam. I request du company to waive these charges against my name. And find out who issued this connection.
I request Gulf News to kindly intervene and help me in solving this problem. And I request the authorities to take legal action against such fraudsters who did this scam, so that no such cases happen in the future.
From Mr Afaq Ahmad Soomro
Ajman
Updates from Mr Soomro: I received a call from du mentioning that they investigated the case and apologised for the inconvenience caused, as that was an unauthorised connection issued under my name. So they will waive off the dues of Dh900 pending, which were used in that fraudulent account. As per my knowledge the outstanding amount due in that account is Dh Dh1,163.20. Thank you Gulf News for helping me out in this situation. I really appreciate it. Keep up the good work.
A spokesperson from du responds: In response to Mr Afaq Ahmad Soomro’s case, our team investigated the situation regarding the misuse of his Emirates ID, allegedly used to issue a du home services connection. Based on the team’s investigation, we found that the documents used were legitimate. Thereafter, our team reached an amicable settlement with the customer on payments and have also assured to unblock the blacklisted Emirates ID as a goodwill gesture. We regret any inconvenience this may have caused. We advise customers to secure their personal documents to avoid any frauds.
(Process initiation: June 25. Response from organisation: August 5. Process completion: September 11.)
Editor’s note: Do you have similar issues that you would like to raise with us? You can write to us at readers@gulfnews.com
