Dubai-Based Expat Scammed Out of Thousands for a Simple Meal Order
A hardworking Indian woman has been at the receiving end of a nasty scam... and she's not the only one.
While many expats are winning big at UAE lotteries, others are falling victim to online scamming. Poor Sarika Thadani is one such unfortunate person who has been cheated out of nearly AED 10,000. And all because this Bur Dubai resident couldn’t resist a tempting online offer of AED 29 for several chicken nuggets and sandwich rolls. It turns out to be a super-costly mistake for the single mother who wanted to treat her co-workers to a meal in celebration of her own mom’s birthday.
Yes, the distraught Ms.Thadani is the latest casualty of a phishing scam. Such stunts are becoming commonplace in the Gulf country where bogus websites are presenting themselves in the guise of legit food-delivery businesses. This middle-income woman took the bait when she noticed the offer on Facebook by what she thought was a known fast food franchise. In the process her debit card details fell into the wrong hands. The stunned Sarika realised foul play was afoot when after plugging in an OTP (One Time Pasdword), she got an sms on her mobile phone notifying her that she had been set back by AED 2,020.
She contacted her bank immediately, but there was more bad news in store. Funds were being illegally extracted at an alarming rate, finally amount to a grand total of AED 9,872.69. The bank was unable to stem the rot. To compound the shock, the bank’s authorities could not retrieve the stolen amount for Ms. Thadani, encouraging her to file a police complaint instead. Her subsequent entry on the e-crime website at the Al Raffa Police Station has not bourne any fruit and that too, nearly three weeks on. This incident comes on the heels of two other similar ones reported in recent times in Dubai. It is high time banks put safeguards in place to protect their customers of such daylight robbery. Next time you have the munchies, remember a greedy party could have a much bigger appetite.
