Sharjah cops solve 3 cybercrimes in a day
sharjah — Despite repeated alerts and warnings from the authorities, residents still fall prey to cybercrimes, a top police official has said, reiterating the advice to be alert against various frauds on social media.
The Sharjah Police recently arrested suspects after receiving complaints from three people, who were duped in one day, said Col Ibrahim Musabah Al Ajil, director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Sharjah Police. All three victims were contacted via WhatsApp and were told that they would win cash prizes. They had provided the strangers with all their bank information,
These crimes are developing rapidly and there are no accurate statistics because many cases are unreported.”
Col Ibrahim Al Ajil, director, CID
allowing the suspects to withdraw large amounts of money from their accounts. The police formed special teams and arrested the suspects, he added.
In the past three months, the cybercrime department of the Sharjah Police had dealt with a total of 90 cases of online frauds, such as blackmailing, bogus double-yourmoney schemes and fake raffe draws, he said.
“These crimes are developing rapidly and there are no accurate statistics because many cases remain unreported,” Col Al Ajil said.
In one unreported case, a victim was duped into handing Dh2 million to a man he met online and promised to double his money. Out of shame and frustration, the victim refused to approach the police.
Col Al Ajil said the widespread use of social media platforms had increased the number of cyber frauds. Aside from hunting the suspects down, the Sharjah Police are also driving awareness campaigns to remind the public of the dangers of dealing with strangers they meet online.
The police are open to all kinds of cyber fraud complaints, and victims may call the hotline 065943228.
He also urged victims to come to the police, stressing that there was nothing to be ashamed of and that their privacy would be prioritised. He pointed out that the police had discreetly solved 29 cyber blackmailing cases recently, and managed to arrest suspects.