Customers Order Online Goods at Enticing Prices — but They Never Arrive
Social media has finally spread ads promoting different products, at very low prices compared to their actual prices.
One advertisement offered customers a leather coat for AED 20 with free international delivery to any address in the UAE once a certain order threshold was reached. Another offered electronic devices at ‘unbelievable’ prices, including a television for eight dirhams, accompanied by comments praising the product and its quality.
According to a complaint Emarat Al Youm received from online shoppers, it turned out that many of these products do not reach the buyer, even though they are paid electronically.
Dealers said they were surprised that their purchases did not reach them after almost four months of payment. Others confirmed that they were victims of a fraud, pointing to withdrawing large sums from their accounts after paying for the cheap goods.
Speaking in detail, Walid Magdi said: "I saw several advertisements for different brands selling clothes, including an advertisement for expensive coats, offered as part of a special offer, which was to buy seven coats for 100 dirhams, or three for 60 dirhams. When I opened the website, I found that his language is English, and he works from outside the country, but he offers different categories of clothing at a discounted price of about 15 to 18 dirhams for a leather jacket, and eight dirhams for a t-shirt, so I requested three coats for up to 64 dirhams – after adding shipping fees".
He added: "Then I contacted the e-mail on the site to find out when the order would arrive, and they told me it would arrive in three weeks or a month at most, but three months passed without anything being delivered or even emailed".
Mustafa Muhammad reported that he saw advertisements promoting clothes from outside the country at very low prices, so he ordered more than one without worrying. "Because the demand – if it gets there – will be useful, and if it doesn't, the loss is not great, because the amount is less than AED 100".
Khalid Zarikat said that he saw an advertisement on "social media" about the sale of seven dirhams per one TV screens, and immediately ordered to buy them online, but was surprised a few days later by withdrawing 52 thousand dirhams from his bank card, after his bank account data was stolen in the first purchase process.
The Director of the Department of Investigations and Criminal Investigation of Sharjah Police, Colonel Omar Abulzoud, confirmed that the Sharjah Police last year received 577 reports of cybercrimes, including 441 electronic fraud reports, adding that some reports were from outside the state.
"The biggest challenge we have right now is how to deal with an off-state criminal, so we've intensified consumer awareness programs to avoid falling into the trap of cyber-fraud", he said.
In turn, Sharjah Police Director General of Police Operations, Brigadier Ahmed Sarkal, said that the biggest challenges we are facing today are the modern crimes that are prevalent around the world, represented by cyber and digital crimes. He confirmed the dedication of a team of trainers to monitor the future and predict future crimes.
Cybersecurity expert Sami A Nour said that a lot of fraudulent websites selling goods and products are active these days.
He went on to say that the scammers mocked digital technologies in e-commerce for the purpose of fraud, and succeeded in carrying out their criminal activity from outside the country, since the law in the UAE protects everyone, a scammer would not dare to carry out this kind of activity within the country.
He added: "There are a number of tricks around this, the most important of which is selling a product that doesn't meet the standards, by putting a label that points to incorrect specifications, or a simulated product, such as perfumes, bags and phones".
He said, "The new thing is not to deliver the product from scratch".
He explained that the most important indicators of a fraudulent offer are that the price is much lower than expected, or that an account that promotes the product is entirely new, or has hundreds of thousands of fake followers (this can be inferred by the number of comments and the number of likes on the content and quality of the comments, the fake is usually complimentary or pointless, and sometimes dozens of comments give thanks to the product in almost the same style, and those comments are paid, so the trader has to read negative comments, He also took a quick look at commenters, whether they were real people or fakes, had their accounts cleared of a real name, and the name was filled with numbers and symbols.
Sami A Nour stressed that the consumer should be aware and only buy from globally recognized secure and reliable sites. And if a consumer sees an ad, they have to verify the identity of the business first, browse the account, and then read people's comments and opinions; whoever is able to create ads, that doesn't mean that the agency is official, safe and reliable, and whoever is able to create a website, having a website doesn't mean that the agency is safe at all, and there's a saying that's been going on for years, that if the site contains https, that means it's safe, and that's not true.
He continued: "I have recently noticed that there are fraudulent websites selling Ramadan merchandise, as well as cleaning companies, or maid offices, announcing the availability of maidservants at significant discounts, because there is a heavy demand for maidservants during the holy month of Ramadan".
He said, "The good thing is that this site gets the bank card data, which the owner later shows off to be stolen, noting that some are actually stolen while paying, so I recommend setting up an online purchase account like prepaid cards, setting a maximum withdrawal limit, and I also recommend buying from places around the world using PayPal as much as possible, where this intermediate payment method allows you to recover money in case the request is fraudulent. Or if the product doesn't arrive, or if it arrives damaged or not working".
For his part, legal adviser Ayham Al Maghribi said that this kind of fake advertising is a type of electronic fraud, where its promoters rely on advertising products that look attractive in shape and value, which motivates the public to try to buy them, believing them to be profitable for them, but in fact they are being tricked for small amounts of money like theft, as well as being from outside the state, making it difficult to take legal action against these people.
He added: "There are different forms of fake advertising, some of which depend on promotion through comments and comments from people about their purchases and praise, then you click on a link to buy a product at a low price that you consider a fantasy offer, but the next day you are surprised to have huge amounts withdrawn from your account as a result of bank account data being stolen".
Others rely on stealing your email and knowing your own transactions, like embassies, for example, and then they send you an email saying they're from that embassy, asking for a 30 dirham fee, for example, to surprise you that the mail was intended to manipulate you and steal your bank account.
He continued: “When you order a product advertised on social media from outside the country and it does not arrive, this constitutes online fraud and the unlawful seizure of another person's money. In such a case, however, you may be unable to bring proceedings before the country's courts because the competent authorities are not responsible for a person abroad. Consumers must therefore remain cautious and alert.”
He pointed out that the UAE is continuously publishing legal culture awareness programs so that people do not fall victim to cyber manipulation, and urges dealers not to provide any bank details or open untrusted links, so that they do not fall victim to cybercrime.
• A shopper bought a screen for seven dirhams using his bank card, only to discover days later that AED 52,000 had been withdrawn from his account.
• Sharjah police last year received 577 reports of cybercrimes, including 441 reports of online fraud
Source: Emarat Al Youm