Scammers take warning—the UAE authorities will nab you. In fact, the Sharjah Police just nabbed one of the worst scammers in recent memory.
An online scammer tried to steal a staggering AED 2.8 million from an advertising company in the emirate, but was luckily caught by authorities.
The hacker apparently nabbed the firm’s email account, discovering that they had an upcoming transaction with a client in another GCC country to that huge total, and was trying to nab it for himself before the transaction went through.
According to the Sharjah Police, the suspect pretended to be the agency, and convinced the client in the other country to wire him the money instead, to his own account, and then withdrew over AED 1 million in different transactions at multiple branches of the same bank.
The police nabbed him when he was caught trying to withdraw the rest of the sum.
The man was tracked down in under eight hours after the complaint was filed by the company, who realized what had happened according to Lt. Col. Muhammad bin Haider, the acting head of the Buhairah Comprehensive Police Station in Sharjah.
The suspect confessed to the crime, according to bin Haider, in the middle of interrogation. The man has now been referred to public prosecution and awaits trial and potential sentencing.
Stay safe out there, folks!