‘Deportation’ scam dupes more Indians
Dubai Police meet consulate officials to crack down on crooks swindling people
More and more Indians are falling victims to the ‘deportation’ phone scam, prompting authorities in Dubai to be on the trail of fraudsters spoofing phone numbers of the immigration department and the Indian Consulate General.
The Indian mission has been flooded with complaints from expats who have been swindled of thousands of dirhams by fraudsters posing as immigration or Indian Consulate officials.
The impostors make their calls look bona fide by spoofing the phone numbers of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) or the consulate. They then extort money by threatening the gullible victims with deportation for failing to clear cooked-up legal charges.
Gulf News first reported the scam over a year ago when the scammers were only using the numbers of the GDRFA. Last month, the consulate issued an advisory, warning residents that its phone number has also been misused by scammers.
Victims who complained to the consulate recently submitted details of single and multiple transactions in which they wired cash ranging from Dh1,000 to Dh13,200.
Fake charges levelled against the victims have included not filling immigration papers, not following residency laws and encouraging the sex trade.
“Suddenly there is a jump in these kinds of calls,” said Consul General of India in Dubai, Vipul.
“The impostors are posing as officials from the GDRFA or the consulate and making them send money to clear fake cases. I urge people not to fall prey to such fraudsters.”
He told Gulf News that the mission has approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to request local law enforcement agencies to take appropriate legal action.
Subsequently, Vipul said, a team from the cyber security wing of Dubai Police recently held a meeting with the consular officials.
“We have also requested details of the beneficiaries of money exchanges to see where the money [wired by victims] has gone. If it has gone back to India, we can find out the trail and certainly take action over there also.”