Dubai Police arrest fake recruitment gang who scammed 150 job seekers

Dubai Police have arrested a gang who conned 150 job seekers with tempting job opportunities and attractive salaries during the coronavirus pandemic, according to an official statement.

“The gang would lure victims by posting fake job opportunities with attractive salaries, and then ask the victim for money for some alleged reasons such as recruitment fees, taxes or booking an interview appointment,” said Brigadier Jamal Salem al-Jalaf, Director of the General Department of Criminal Investigation (CID) at Dubai Police.

He pointed out that in light of the COVID-19 global pandemic and the rise in the number of job seekers, the gang managed to defraud 150 individuals, according to a statement carried by Dubai Police’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

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“The General Department of Criminal Investigations in Dubai Police monitors such gangs as well as fake advertisements through its specialized departments namely the Economic Crimes Control Department” Brig. al -Jalaf reaffirmed.

For his part, Colonel Salah Jumaa Bousaiba, Director of the Economic Crimes Control Department, said that they received a tip-off on a fake recruitment agency located in Dubai that was run by an Asian man.

“The suspects had published ads across social media platforms promising job seekers with tempting job opportunities and attractive salaries.”

“They asked unwary applicants for a payment $273 to $822 (1,000 to 3,000 dirhams) of a certain ‘fee’ to process the job application. In the end, the job-seeker would find out that no such position ever existed,” Col. Bousaiba explained.

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One of the victims - who was deceived into making a money transfer for a bogus job vacancy and work visa – alerted the police who then formed a raid team and made the arrest, said Captain Ahmad Suhail al- Samahi, Director of Anti-Fraud Department.

“Our team arrested the suspects, and seized payment receipts and slips,” he added according to the statement.

He pointed out that the investigations concluded that the agency had only one person under its sponsorship and was managed by the defendants as a fake employment company where they used to collect the largest amount of money from the victims.

Dubai Police did not specify when the operation took place nor how many suspects were arrested in the operation.