Fraud alerts top emergency calls in Dubai

Among the non-emergency calls received by Dubai Police last year, majority were fraud complaints, according to a top police official.

The General Department of Operations, Dubai Police, received 5,658 such calls during the first five months of 2013, said Munira Ahmed Marzouki, Head, Division of Information Center at 901. This was up compared to 5,107 calls reporting fraud in 2012, she added.

One person called on ‘901’ to report losing Dh30,000 in telephone credit scam, according Mariam Ali Saleh - a customer service staff at the police department.

Yet another victim called to complain that he received a call confirming that he had won Dh1million in prize and that he had to transfer Dh1,000 to a particular account in order to avail of the prize money. But after the money was transferred, the caller just disappeared.

The hike in numbers came amid increased warning by police to the public to be wary of tricksters and urging them not to fall prey to manipulators. Greed to make quick money is one of the reasons when people fall victims, explained Marzouki.

She said most fraudsters used special days to dupe unsuspecting people. They call up people on religious occasions or the National Day and convince them that they have won a huge sum of money. She called on the public to be cautious of callers and urged them to report such fraudsters to police.
 

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