August 2010Greed costs up to Dh1m in money scams
More than 85 suspects arrested in such frauds last year
Victims that fall prey to scams that promise to double one’s money often lose as much as Dh 1 million, according to a top Dubai Police official.
Speaking exclusively to Emirates 247 Major Rashed Mohammed Saleh, Deputy Director of Anti-Economic Crime Department at Dubai Police said that as many as 85 suspects were arrested in Dubai last year pulling for such scams. “The suspects are mainly Africans,” he said, adding, “and they feed upon the greed of their victims.”
Black to green: modus operandi
Explaining the modus operandi of the fraudsters, Maj Saleh says, “A very common scam is the promise to turn black notes into original US dollars. In the beginning, they approach their victims by pretending to start a business.
“Later, they tell their victims that they received boxes of black notes from the American Monetary Fund or other sources and show them fake certificates to prove this. They tell them that these black notes turn into original notes when washed with a special liquid.”
Maj Saleh then says that often suspects bring an original US dollar covered with black wax, washes it in front of the victim and ‘turns it’ into a US dollar.
“He gives the victim the note and asks him to check with any money exchange to verify its authenticity. The victim is convinced,” he adds.
The scamster then tells the victim that he has run out of the special liquid, which costs around $80,000.
The victim pays him this amount. After that, the suspect takes more money from the victim claiming that a bribe needs to be paid to a custom official to release the liquid.
“He carries on in this way and takes as much as possible from the victim. In the end, they run away leaving most victims in debt,” he says.
Loss is the punishment
Maj Saleh says the victims come to the police with the boxes.
“These victims are involved in the crime as they wanted to do something illegal. However, due to the nature of these cases, we don’t take legal action against them, as their loss is their punishment,” he says.
Maj Saleh adds that the victims are mainly UAE nationals, Arabs and Asians.
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