Cybercriminals targeting people with fake discounts on property and gold deals in Dubai

Hyderabad: With a war raging in West Asia, the cybercrime syndicate has gone into hyperactive mode, targeting gullible people in India, among other countries.

Cyber scammers have been promising the sale of properties and gold at high discount prices in Dubai. They are pushing people into believing the lucrative offer and immediately paying an advance amount for booking purposes.

The fraud is happening via social media, including Facebook, Instagram, X, WhatsApp and Telegram groups. Those who are falling into the trap have paid the booking amounts only to witness the scammer vanish soon.

How did the war impact crime?

Due to the ongoing war between the allies USA and Israel, with Iran, businesses in many countries have been severely affected. Flight operations too have been affected, with Iran targeting the Gulf and Middle East nations helping the USA. Among them is Dubai, where flight operations have been severely hit, impacting the smuggling activities besides genuine businesses and jobs.

Dubai is one of the primary sources for gold smugglers who are now jobless.

Sources keeping an eye on the development said that while smuggling has taken a hit, the cyber criminals have grabbed it as a golden opportunity to fleece people. The most lucrative option chosen by them is property and gold sales in Dubai, both being popular among the higher middle and rich classes in India.

Sources said that for a ‘discounted property deal’ worth around Rs 3 crore, cyber criminals have targeted people into paying a booking amount of Rs 3 lakh or more, saying the offer was valid only for a day.

Role of social media in spreading scams

Cybercrime lawyer Pankaj Bafna said that this is not only monetary penetration, but it is also affecting the economies of the countries. “The criminals have started using social media as the best tool to spread unrest and try to collapse economies of various countries,” Bafna said.

He added that the criminals are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create deepfake videos and pictures and circulating them on social media platforms. “As people nowadays believe social media circulation as a ‘Word of God’, the criminals are targeting them through the same tool,” he said.

Bafna said that crimes like fake news, impersonation, cheating, cyber terrorism, misinformation, hacking and many more are in action.

Bafna saved two of his clients from being fleeced, who luckily approached him before paying the booking amount for property deals in Dubai.

He said that people are being approached through social media, attracting them with fake offers like a 20 per cent drop in property prices in Dubai.

“Similarly, cyber criminals posing as Dubai-based gold traders are ‘offering’ bullion at steep discounts due to the conflict in West Asia, which has disrupted flights and caused stranded shipments in one of the world’s key trading hubs,” Bafna said.

“Due to this, people are connecting with ‘jewellers’ in Dubai to block their bullion. Criminals are also creating fake websites of jewellers to book gold and collect money from victims,’ Bafna added.

The victims soon realise that they were duped as the syndicate members evaporate suddenly.