DUBAI: Police arrested three Arab nationals who stole $62 million in a sophisticated scam that involved hacking into government portals to steal credit card details from over 16,000 accounts.
Col. Khalil Al-Mansoori, head of Dubai’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said that police had been following the group since July after receiving some tip-offs and that investigators arrested two of the culprits at a house.
He added that during questioning the two confessed to stealing credit card details and led police to a third member of the gang who was already in police custody in connection with another crime.
A fourth suspect is out of the country. Police have issued an international warrant for his arrest.
Credit card fraud is a growing problem for Dubai police with criminals becoming increasingly sophisticated.
In November, police arrested a gang of four, including a bank employee, for forging credit card applications to embezzle around two million dirhams.
The CID also arrested a Pakistani man, identified as Sajid Hussain, on Oct. 30 after receiving a tip-off that he possessed forged credit cards and a fake South African passport.
After searching the man’s home in Al-Baraha, police found 95 credit cards from various banks, five check books, nine mobile phones with SIM cards, nine stamps for trading companies, a fake South African passport, a South African ID card and 93,000 dirhams.
During questioning, the man admitted to being involved in credit card scams. He also identified two of his accomplices as Mohammad Naser, a Pakistani national, and Mohammad Yousuf Idrees, an Indian national who swindled a bank in Dubai six months ago.
