Scammers target UAE expats returning from holiday

Scammers impersonating Dubai residency officials are targeting expatriates returning from holiday to extort money from them

Scammers impersonating Dubai residency officials are targeting expatriates returning from holiday to extort money from them.

The fraudsters used caller ID spoofing in making bogus calls that appear to be from toll free numbers of the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA).

This is not the first time that scammers have used the GDRFA and other companies to target victims. In January, the Indian consulate in Dubai issued a warning to Indians in the UAE after reports of expats losing thousands of dirhams to scammers.

Victims said they were told they have committed serious immigration offences while travelling and could be deported if they didn’t pay fines of up to Dh3,000.

Anita Joseph, who returned to Dubai after a vacation in India, said she was told that she faced deportation and a 15-year ban from the UAE for not updating her records. “I was told that the only way out for me was to immediately remit Dh1,500 to a certain bank account towards legal fees," she told XPRESS.

Indian expatriate S.K. said that a caller posing as a GDRFA staff asked him to pay Dh2,500 to rectify an immigration violation, while Pakistani expatriate A. Naz said he was asked to pay a Dh3,000 fine for not filling up a form upon returning to Dubai.

The expats said that the callers threatened to report their case to the Dubai Police and did not disconnect the call until the amount was wired to their account. GAD/Expat Media

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