During the peak travel season, scammers are actively exploiting the situation as numerous residents plan their summer vacations. On Friday, fraudsters sent out mass messages under the guise of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs-Dubai, stating: "Your passport usage has been suspended. You are restricted from leaving the United Arab Emirates. Please provide your residential address, or you will be held accountable. Failure to declare your address will result in a fine of 50,000 dirhams and further restrictions on leaving the country," along with a malicious web link. The numbers used to send these deceptive messages originated from Nigeria (+234) and Ethiopia (+251).
The genuine GDRFA-Dubai quickly responded with a stern warning to residents, urging them not to be deceived by these scammers. In a statement to Khaleej Times, GDRFA-Dubai advised: "We strongly recommend that all customers exercise caution and avoid responding to any potentially suspicious text messages. It is advisable to ignore messages from unknown sources and not to click on links from them." For further inquiries or complaints, GDRFA-Dubai can be contacted at 8005111.
Khaleej Times has continuously reported on the UAE's efforts to combat cybercrime. A report on July 5 highlighted the intricate networks of international cybercrime syndicates dismantled by UAE authorities, leading to the arrest of hundreds of individuals last week. A three-month investigation revealed that these syndicates have specialized teams for various scams, employing hundreds of tech-savvy individuals from South Asia through job ads on social media.
