RAK police online patrol to eliminate blackmailers
ras al khaimah — With recent reports on several people falling preys to cyber scams, the Ras Al Khaimah Police have launched online patrols to crackdown on blackmailers.
Brigadier Abdullah Ali Menakhas, director of the criminal investigations department (CID), said the police have started tracking down doubtful activities on the Internet. “Our patrols are surfing the web round the clock to catch suspicious acts.”
The CID is collaborating with different departments to make this critical security programme a success, he added.
“The media and PR department and the cybercrimes branch of the organised crimes section are involved in the project, which is also meant to develop public awareness on online blackmailing.”
The fraudsters mostly pose as women and girls and convince their victims to reveal private details about themselves and even share indecent pictures through social media, he stated.
Brig Menakhas said that communicating with strangers or unreal entities or webpages online is one of the main reasons behind electronic extortion. “Never ever post or share your private information on your social media accounts as scamsters can collect these details and pictures to abuse and blackmail you.”
He urged the public to report any suspicious practices or scams they come across to the law enforcement authorities.
“Recently, one of the cybercriminals convinced a young woman here to pay him a huge sum to prevent the man from publicly posting her private pictures, which she willingly shared with him.”
The RAK Police, alerted of the incident, tracked down the suspect, arrested him, and referred him to the prosecution.”
Meanwhile, the community department of the RAK Police has launched a campaign to enlighten the public about drowning risks.
“Hundreds of brochures on safety rules in Arabic and English were distributed to the beach-goers, seafarers, and scooter shops under the scheme themed ‘Safe Summer’,” said Major Ali Rashid, acting chief of Mamura police station.
ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com