Sharjah Police have reported 260 job scam cases this year, warning residents about fake job ads circulating on social media. Police have traced and arrested several suspects, recovering a significant sum of money.
Brigadier Omar Ahmed Abu Al Zoud, director of the Criminal and Investigations Department, cautioned against job offers requiring “recruitment fees,” which are illegal for agents to collect from job seekers. He highlighted a case where Dh300,000 was stolen from a woman, but police managed to recover the amount and identify other victims of the same scammer in Dibba Al Hison and other emirates.
The past two years have seen a 70 percent increase in cybercrimes. Brigadier Al Zoud stated that victims of cybercrime are aged between 18 and 50. “Most internet users don’t take security measures to protect their accounts, something that leaves them vulnerable to exploitation,” he said.
He emphasized the difficulty of tracing electronic fraud, especially if conducted from outside the UAE. “What matters is how we handle them. We work with international organizations to fight all kinds of internet crimes,” Brigadier Al Zoud said in a Gulf News report.
Sharjah Police’s online patrols operate round-the-clock to monitor cybercrimes, closing 20 suspicious accounts and sites since the beginning of the year and arresting their owners with the telecommunication authority’s cooperation.
Lieutenant Ahmed Balhai and Lieutenant Nouf Abdel Rahim Al Harmoudi pointed out that cybercrimes include fake job advertisements, fake websites, and hacking. They stressed the importance of verifying content or links to entities and institutions, noting that fake sites often mimic official sites with slight changes unnoticed by users. Victims who submit banking information on these fake sites often experience large withdrawals from their accounts.
The police urge the public to report any suspicious activity immediately.
