Residents Are Urged To Be Vigilant As A Bogus AED 1 Million Scam To Extort Money Does The Rounds

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has issued an important warning to residents.

Scammers are impersonating legitimate raffle and lottery draws in an attempt to lure unsuspecting residents into parting with their cash. The lottery scam fools residents into believing they’ve won almost AED3.6 million, before asking them to cough up over AED2,500 to cover ‘transaction costs’.

A lot of thought went into this scam

Here’s the ruse: Scammers contact victims telling them they’ve won a ‘2017 Mobile Award’ by ‘Emirates Lottery 2017.’ 

All documents and forms bear the UAE flag and look legitimate, according to reports. The ‘prize’ is $1 million. To claim the prize, victims are asked to submit the winning certificate and further documents to the ‘National Bank of Dubai’ – a bogus bank.

Then, and this is the part where residents could be fooled, victims of the fraud would be asked to pay AED 2,938 to cover ‘transaction costs’.

Neither the bank nor the funds are legitimate

“Under no circumstances should you send or give any money to any party in connection with the scam, the DFSA strongly advises that you do not respond to any communication regarding the scam,”- The DFSA, via a report in Gulf News.

Residents are warned to be vigilant.