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Three ‘Pocket Dh284,000’ from Man Who Fell for email Fraud

The complainant, a Saudi, received an email saying that he had won $9.5 million, and that the money was deposited in a foreign bank in Sharjah, Humaid Al Hadidi, Director-General of the emirate’s police, said at a press conference.

The email, which seemed to be sent from London, gave a contact number and said he had to come to the UAE to complete some procedures before the money is disbursed to him, Al Hadidi said. The Saudi called the contact number and the person who responded asked him to meet the latter in a luxury hotel in Dubai. When the Saudi arrived at the hotel, he was met by a Nigerian and a Lesotho national.

They told him that the amount was deposited in a foreign bank in Al Majaz area of Sharjah and that their Nigerian representative would help him complete the procedures. They met the representative in Sharjah who took them to the bank and opened a safe deposit locker and took out some cash. The representative told the complainant that the latter had to spend some money for completing the procedures for releasing the amount and that he had to wait for several days.

To convince the Saudi, the Nigerian gave him some dollars to stay in the country. After several days, he met the Nigerian who expressed dismay at the complexity of the procedures and said the bank wanted big amounts as fees for each step and that all his funds were over. The representative asked the Saudi to bring money from his country. The latter agreed and paid Dh800 first and Dh5,000 another time. He kept on demanding more money each time they met. The complainant paid him Dh284,000 in total.

Then, the Africans said there was one last step — open an account in the Saudi man’s name in an international bank in Bahamas for which he must pay Dh500,000. At this, the Saudi became suspicious and approached Al Buhairah police station in Sharjah and lodged a complaint.

They were arrested from a hotel in Sharjah.

afkarali@khaleejtimes.com

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