Man duped of Dh10,000 in fake prize scam in Dubai

Two Asians were arrested for trapping a GCC national in a fake prize scam and defrauding him of Dh10,000. The duo allegedly called the victim on his mobile phone and lured him into believing that he had won a million-dollar prize in Al-Dhafrah, Al Ittihad reported on Saturday.

The two told the man that before being offered the prize, he would have to deposit Dh10,000 in a local account. The victim followed the duo's instructions and deposited the money in the account. However, he didn't receive the prize money as promised. The duo called him again and told him to deposit Dh10,000 more. 

It was then that the victim sensed he had been conned. The man reported the matter to the police, who swung into action and found out the owner of the account in which the victim had deposited Dh10,000. They arrested both the Asians.

During the hearing in the court of first instance, the second defendant claimed that his friend (the first accused) told him that he was facing some problems with his account and that a certain amount would be transferred to his account, which he should hand over to him after it was credited. 

Both the accused were arrested, and the court sentenced them to 2 years in prison and imposed a fine of Dh50,000 as well as deportation.

The lawyer of the second accused challenged the verdict and told the appeals court that his client didn't know anything about the crime, and there was no evidence to prove that he was involved in the scam.

The appeals court deferred its judgement to October 20.