Dubai: Arab woman falls victim to text message scam

Despite the warnings from several entities in the country, including the police and Etisalat, some people continue to fall victims to fraudsters, where they are convinced they have won a prize of up to 500,000 Dhs., and that they have to give out their bank account details, so the fraudsters can collect the “prize fee”.

A 26-year-old Arab woman was the most recent victim, where a 26-year-old Asian visitor contacted her explaining that he works for Etisalat and that she had won 500,000 Dhs. and that she should send her bank account details .

According to her testimony in the case papers considered by the Dubai Criminal Court, she initially refused, but the defendant contacted her again through “Whats App”, and sent her a copy of a cheque with the value of the prize. She then sent her account details, but was later surprised with the withdraw of 7500 Dhs. from her account.