Duo in dock for duping man of Dh33k

dubai — Two men, who defrauded a Filipino man of Dh33,000, were charged with fraud and forgery at the Dubai Court of First Instance.

The two Pakistanis, aged 32 and 35, duped the Filipino resident after falsely claiming to him that they worked for a telecom firm and he won Dh500,000 prize money from the telecom provider.

The suspects managed to fool the complainant that he had to send the money as “fees” for paperwork. After cheating the man, the duo made purchase orders online and got the products 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 also charged with using others’ authentic identification document, impersonating a public employee, and use of fake document.

The case dates back to January 14 and was registered at Bur Dubai police station.

The Filipino victim, 47, said: “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 I found later that Dh33,000 was withdrawn from my account and then realised I had fallen victim to fraudsters.”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 and recounted how he would call people and would lure them into revealing their bank cards numbers and PIN numbers.

The accused alleged he could not recall the name of the victim in this case or how much money he had duped him of.

The two men had a record of several similar criminal cases. Both are in detention.

A court ruling will be heard on August 15.