Dubai: Criminals continue to think out new ways to scam unwitting victims of their cash.
In a latest scam uncovered by Gulf News, residents have been targeted by scammers posing as staff from the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA).
Impostors threaten victims with deportation if they do not pay to clear imaginary legal cases.
Kasturi Deepika, a mother of two children, said she received a call on August 16 from what appeared to be a UAE landline number.
“The caller knew my name and said he was from the GDRFA. He was very firm and told me there was a deportation order for me because I had not filled up a form when I landed in the country, said Deepika, a credit controller. “He said the cops would come in the next 15 minutes.”
To make the call seem bona fide, the fraudster pointed out that the caller ID belonged to the GDRFA. “It matched the GDRFA number on their official website, which was 04-3139999, so I began to panic and think it’s serious,” said Deeika, the UAE resident of 10 years.
“More than one person started speaking to me, among them one was posing as a lawyer. They asked me for my passport and ID details, The told me that there was also a case against me in India and if I am deported from the UAE I wouldn’t be allowed to leave India for 15 years.”
During the telephonic conversation that continued for an hour 48 minutes, Deepika was warned that a legal action would be taken against her if she hung up the call.
“I was told that I had to either accept the deportation order or allow them to hire a lawyer for me, and I’d have to send Dh1,600 through Western Union to a person named Riram Bompi. This amount, they said, would be refundable.”
Deepika said she left the house and withdrew the money to send to the person mentioned by them. “At that point you are terrified and cannot think properly. in the meantime, I messaged one of my friends about the call, He asked me to report the matter to police. We went to the police station while the caller was still on the phone and that’s when he hung up.”
In an online forum, a number of UAE residents complained that they received the same kind of calls from the same number.
A detailed response from the GDRFA was not available but an official said the matter is being handled by security authorities.
Spoofing software
Ihab Moawad, VP Mediterranean, Middle East, Africa at Trend Micro, a security software company, said scammers may have been using spoofing software to fake the caller ID and make it appear like it was coming from the GDRFA’s offices.
“This looks more of a traditional scam of extorting money, not a digital scam,” said Moawad. About how caller IDs are spoofed, Moawad said that this technique it is not new. There are tools and services available to do this.”
He added that there are devices being marketed online to run such scams.”
Moawad advised residents to not to respond to such kind of calls. “It opens more avenues for the scammers to get more information about you.It should be noted that immigration and other government departments do not threaten people of taking legal action against them and ask for fees on phone.
In a statement sent to Gulf News, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) also warned residents against scam calls and said fraudsters can use many methods such as social engineering, by communicating with people either by telephone or through social media.
"We advise the subscribers not to respond to such calls, and in the event of blackmail, they should contact police service Al Ameen on 800 4888, who will deal with the case in a strictly confidential manner, and cooperate with the victim to reach the perpetrator and seek to resolve the problem.”
