Gang to be jailed, deported for mobile phone scam in Abu Dhabi

The Abu Dhabi Court of First Instance convicted a gang of five people of Pakistani nationality for fraud and scamming mobile phone users out of money through fake promotional offers, with one year in jail followed by deportation.

Details reveal that the defendants attempted to seize 100,000 dirhams from a bank account of an Arab woman, using fraudulent methods and by calling her pretending to be the same bank she deals with. They convinced the woman that she had won a prize of 500 thousand dirhams, with the condiiton to obtain phone messages with the password of her account, to transfer the prize to her.

Investigations by the police indicated that the gang charged one of its members with contacting their victims convincing them of being employees of a local bank, and telling them they won a huge prize. The other defendants then take their account numbers and passwords.

A team of criminal Investigatiors was immediately set up to arrest the gang, an ambush was carried out resulting in the arrest of 10 accused.

Investigations revealed that the defendants rented an apartment in Al Rahba area of ​​Abu Dhabi, which they used as the headquarters of their fraud network. They used a large number of phones and SIM cards to contact the public for fraud.

Five accused were found guilty, while the lawyer Hadeyya Hammad denied the elements of the crime of the other five, who were found innocent by the court.