Duo traps Dubai expat in fake prize scam, dupes him of Dh33,000

Dubai - The duo made purchase orders online with the ill-gotten money.

Two men, who defrauded a Filipino man of Dh33,000 after falsely claiming to him they worked for a telecom firm and that he won Dh500,000, were charged with fraud and forgery at the Dubai Court of First Instance.
The two Pakistanis, aged 32 and 35, managed to fool the victim that he had to send the money as "fees" for paperwork and money wiring.
The duo made purchase orders online with the ill-gotten money. They got the products they purchased delivered to them by express courier, using an Emirates ID, belonging to a compatriot.
The conmen also faked the signature of the original ID's holder on the receipt forms of the courier.
The two were charged in the court with using others' authentic identification document, impersonating a public employee, forgery and use of fake document and fraud.
The case dates back to January 14 and was registered at Bur Dubai police station.
The Filipino victim, 47, said he was at work at a veterinary clinic around noon when he got a phone call. "The caller said that I had won Dh500,000 from my telecom provider. He asked for personal information, including my two bank cards details. I found later that Dh33,000 was withdrawn from my account and then realised I had fallen victim to fraudsters." 
The 35-year-old accused confessed during investigation he would defraud people and receive Dh1,000 a day for that from a runaway suspect. He recounted how he would call customers of a phone services firm and falsely claim to them he is an employee of that company. He would lure them into revealing their bank cards numbers and their PINs.
The accused alleged he could not recall the name of the victim in this case or how much money he had duped him of. 
His accomplice confessed they would call people randomly and lie to them that they were winners of a huge prize. He said he would get the bank cards details of the victims and withdraw money from their accounts. He used the money he would get from the victims to shop online and resell the products later.
The two men had a record of several similar criminal cases. Both are in detention.
A court ruling will be heard on August 15.
mary@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai