Dubai: A group of thieves hacked an email address of a Dubai-based car export and import company and deceived an auto dealer to deliver four expensive vehicles in a foreign country, Dubai Police said.

Police said the company reported to them that they had bought four Mercedes vehicles worth Dh1.8 million but the vehicles went to a different country after the thieves hacked their email address and sent different delivery addresses to the selling company.

Brigadier Salem Al Rumaithi, director of the Criminal Investigation Department, said the email address of the company was hacked by unknown people who sent another email to the exporting company outside the UAE telling it to change the delivery addresses to another country. The hackers managed to get the cheque number issued by the Dubai-based company for the cars and attached it in their email to the exporting company with different delivery locations without the knowledge of the Dubai company.

“Officers from the Cyber Crimes Department identified the hackers and informed authorities in the country where the cars reached. The thieves were arrested and the cars recovered and sent to the UAE,” Brigadier Al Rumaithi said.

Dubai Police coordinated closely with the law enforcement authorities in the foreign country to solve the case, Brig Al Rumaithi said.

Dubai Police revealed that they recorded 1,256 cases related to electronic crimes last year and blocked 12,000 links and accounts on social media networks for promoting illegal substances and fake drugs.

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“Our cyber patrols managed to tackle such accounts and links in coordination with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. On an average, we block 1,159 links, accounts and websites every month,” he added.

Lieutenant-Colonel Saeed Al Hajri, director of the Cyber Crimes Department of Dubai Police, also urged parents to monitor their children and not let them connect with strangers online.

“Parents should check with whom their children are talking on the internet and chat rooms,” Lt-Col Al Hajri said.