Dubai: Dubai Police has urged members of the public not to open suspicious links or download unknown software claiming to represent “Consumer Protection”, following repeated attempts by fraudsters to impersonate the service in order to steal victims’ money.

The Anti-Fraud Centre at the General Department of Criminal Investigation stressed the importance of accessing only official Consumer Protection channels when submitting complaints and never sharing banking information with any unauthorised party.

Dubai Police explained that the scam begins when a victim searches online for a Consumer Protection website to submit a complaint. Instead of reaching the official platform, they are directed to a fake website where they are asked to enter personal details such as their name, email address, phone number and the subject of their complaint. Shortly afterwards, the victim receives a call from a fraudster posing as an official representative. By repeating the complaint details, the caller creates a false sense of legitimacy and gains the victim’s trust.

Once the victim is convinced, the fraudster instructs them to download remote access software and then log in to their online banking account while the software is running. This enables the criminal to view the victim’s phone screen, steal confidential banking information and use it to transfer funds or make unauthorised purchases.

Dubai Police explained that these malicious remote access programmes allow fraudsters to take control of victims’ computers and smartphones by mirroring the device’s screen, giving them full access to sensitive information that can be exploited for illegal financial transactions.

The Anti-Fraud Centre called on the public to remain vigilant and immediately report any similar fraud attempts through the eCrime platform or by calling 901, helping protect their finances and personal information.