Beware of cyber crimes, residents warned

Dubai - Al Ameen received 212 calls from blackmail victims in 2014

The rise in the number of blackmailing cases was highlighted during an event hosted by Al Ameen service of the Dubai Police and Etisalat in collaboration with the Dubai Women's Association.
The event was designed to help spread awareness among the public about cyber-crimes, blackmailing, UAE laws and to educate families about the potentially dangerous impact of social media.
Engineer Abdul Aziz Al Zarouni stressed the importance of information security and explained that many people are blackmailed. He noted cases in which women have contacted men online, convinced them to send indecent photographs, and then blackmailed them. He advised people to not advertise their locations online, and to be wary of apps which potentially sell data to third parties.
Additionally, he warned local residents to avoid websites that ostensibly facilitate marriages, as they are often compromised. He also said that improperly deleted data can be recovered by those to whom they've sold mobiles.
Another speaker, Khalil Al Ali, said that social media can affect the UAE's security, and warned that terrorist organisations use social media and video games to recruit young people. Daesh, for example, has 40,000 specialised pages in Arabic, and 70,000 in English. Such materials, he said, can lead to young people misunderstand websites.
He noted that Al Ameen received 80 calls from blackmail victims in 2013, and 212 in 2014. In one noteworthy case in a neighbouring country, a man blackmailed 60 children and published 45 indecent photos of them when they refused his blackmail, many of the children being suicidal or aggressive in the aftermath.
amira@khaleejtimes.com