Dubai: An Arab woman has come forward to share her personal experience with phone scammers in the UAE and alert residents about their malicious scheme.
In a short video clip, the woman spoke about how fraudsters tried to get money from her and gain control of her SIM card. “I was a victim of a phone scam,” she said.
The woman once received a phone call from strangers, telling her she had won a prize from a government-run contest. Little did she know then that she was dealing with fraudsters. “I believed them.”
امرأة عربية تحكي قصة تعرضها لعملية نصب هاتفي من أشخاص محتالين مدعين حصولها على جائزة مالية فاستنجدت بـ #شرطة_أبوظبي لإنقاذها.#خلك_حذر pic.twitter.com/18K7dTSeXJ
— شرطة أبوظبي (@ADPoliceHQ) April 16, 2018
But before she could get her hands on the prize, she was told she needed to pay a sum of money as an insurance, using her credit card. “After that, they asked me to recharge [my] prepaid SIM card with money. And then they took the serial number.”
“[Then] they gave me a name of someone whom I should transfer the money through an exchange. They also told me not to disconnect the phone call and warned me [against] informing anyone about this prize because it is confidential,” she said.
That was then she reported the incident to the police, and fortunately for her, things didn’t go downhill from there.
The video of the woman has been shared by Abu Dhabi Police, to increase public awareness about phone scams. Consumers have been advised to stay vigilant and report similar cases to authorities.
Residents can report suspicious calls to Aman service on 8002626.
There have been reports that scammers are at it again and this time they’re sending out fake messages in social media, telling unsuspecting individuals that they either have won a prize from Expo 2020 office or are entitled to get free tickets from Emirates Airline.
Most of these scams are designed to steal personal information from residents and gain access to their bank accounts or credit cards.
