Abu Dhabi: How to protect yourself against digital fraud?
A new campaign is oneto raise awareness about cybercrimes, and the most prevalent ways online fraud crimes are carried out, such as online scams and other subtle methods used to lure victims.
'Masoliya'
To raise awareness about cybercrimes, the Abu Dhabi Center for Legal and Community Awareness at the Judicial Department, launched a three-month "Masouliya" campaign to help the community confront electronic fraud, under the slogan “Digital Protection, a Safe Society”.
It highlights ways individuals can follow to prevent cybercrime and protect themselves against cybercriminals.
Counselor Youssef Saeed Al-Abri, Undersecretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, stressed the significant role played by the “Masouliya” Centre in disseminating preventive protection for members of society through intensified legal and community awareness campaigns.
This would form an impenetrable fence to address crimes and negative behaviour, in line with the directives of the country's wise leadership towards the consolidation of foundations supporting the maintenance of security and stability, said Al-Abri.
Counselor Al-Abri pinpointed that “Masouliya” Centre is keen to diversify the means used to deliver meaningful educational messages using modern technological means through multiple media platforms, in implementation of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Presidential Court, Head of Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, to consolidate community awareness and spread legal culture among the various categories of society.
Curbing electronic fraud
For his part, Counselor Dr. Mohammed Rashid Al-Dhanhani, Director of the Abu Dhabi Center for Legal and Community Awareness, explained that this campaign is significant particularly because electronic fraud is one of the most common types of cybercrimes, whose negative impact and damage has increased in the past few years, due to the increasing number of people using social media with the multiplicity of methods and areas of fraud crimes at all economic, commercial and social levels.
Awareness is key
Dr. Al-Dhanhani pointed out that individuals fall victim to cyber fraud as a result of using incorrect means of communication and websites, accessing unsafe websites, and being unaware of the party dealing with them.
This typically results in the loss of victim’s money, and threatening the economic development of individuals, societies and countries because of the heavy losses suffered by the victims and the difficulty of pursuing and recovering money.
For this end, it was important to address this problem and raise the awareness of its forms as well as the methods of prevention.
Fake offers
Dr. Al-Dhanhani also emphasised the awareness campaign will focus on introducing the most prominent cases of cyber fraud such as fake shopping, impersonating an official employee, and housemaid, shipping and marriage scams, as well as fake real estate offers at lower prices compared to market to lure the victim into quick payment, to deceive people into winning financial or in-kind awards and request bank data to transfer the financial award or paying sums to obtain the in-kind awards.
“The campaign sheds light on methods of preventing the fraud, through the visual, audio and electronic materials, publication of a large number of awareness leaflets and true life stories and facts witnessed by the courts, via various media platforms and through the legal awareness about the punishment for cybercriminals pursuant to Article (40) of Federal Decree-Law No. (34) of 2021 regarding combating rumors and cybercrimes”, Dr. Al-Dhanhani added.
