About 80 people involved in phone scams have been arrested by Abu Dhabi Police in the past six months, as intensified crackdown on con artists continues.
The authorities confirm that all of the money stolen in each scams have since been returned to each of the victims.
Major Abdullah Saif Al Mazrouei, head of the economic crime control department of the Abu Dhabi Police’s criminal investigation division, urged the public to be wary of the risks of disclosing credit card, account, and banking details to anyone. In addition, he also warned citizens against answering phone calls and clicking links suspicious messages that aims to gain access to any of your information, as per a Facebook post from the official page of the Abu Dhabi Police.
Authorities have warned citizens that professional scammers gain control of bank accounts through telling fake stories in their efforts to obtain the bank, credit card, and account details of their victims which in turn makes it the victims’ fault for providing the details that they weren’t supposed to divulge in the first place.
The Abu Dhabi Police have pinpointed several methods by the professional scammers including:
– Phone calls through mobile numbers to lure victims and get their bank statements
– Messages of Fake Prizes
– Fake websites that phish for account details
– Misrepresentation of large financial institutions, including claiming to be employees of a bank
– Asking for confidential details of credit cards over the phone
