177 fraud cases probed in six months this year

DUBAI POLICE REPORT DECLINE IN CASES OF COMMERCIAL CHEATING

Dubai Police investigators recorded a busy first six months of the year probing 177 personal and commercial fraud crimes, said senior police officials.

On the commercial fraud front, police investigated roughly 114 cases that involved business-related fraud, piracy and theft of intellectual property which amounted to over Dh82 million.

The figures represent a drop compared to the same period last year when Dubai Police logged 122 cases worth Dh196 million.

In non-business investigations, police handled 63 cases of financial fraud worth Dh12 million, with crimes ranging from money-doubling and credit card fraud to circulation of counterfeit money and forged cheques, according to a report by Dubai Police’s AntiEconomic Crime Department.

Of these cases, Dubai Police recorded 12 money-doubling frauds worth Dh2.9 million and 29 other cases worth Dh7.4 million.

Lieutenant-Colonel Omar Mohammad Bin Hamad, deputy director of the Anti-Economic Crime Department, said that cooperation with concerned authorities helped to crack cases of forged credit cards this year.

“We coordinate with many banks to take precautionary measures and to protect the credit cards sector. Banks have protection systems with latest technologies. We recorded four crimes related to credit cards worth Dh258,886 compared to three crimes last year [when] the value was Dh1.3 million,” Lt Col Bin Hamad said.

In one case, Dubai Police arrested a tourist who booked a luxury hotel suite for Dh130,000, using a fake credit card. The European tourist only stayed for one night. The hotel filed a case against him when they found out, after he had checked out, that the credit card was fake.

A team of Dubai Police officers tracked and arrested the tourist before he could leave the country.

Dubai police stated that there were 16 cases of forged cheques and official documents worth Dh1.4 million this year.