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Customers considering ordering food and groceries online in the UAE are urged to be careful of phishing scams!
19 August 2024
| Last updated on 20 August 2024
Order through official websites or certified delivery apps only.
What was supposed to be an AED 29 deal on food delivery turned into an eye-watering AED 9,872 lesson on why UAE residents must be wary when clicking random links online.
Fraudulent websites pretending to be authentic fast food chain websites or food delivery platforms have been targeting unsuspecting customers to pay for enticing offers with their credit cards.
SEE ALSO: Common Scams in Dubai You Should Be Aware Of
The incident took place last month on July 31, when the Bur Dubai resident saw a Facebook advertisement for a discounted meal from a popular fried chicken chain.
In a Khaleej Times interview, the victim said she intended to treat her staff on her mother's birthday, "So when I came across this heavily discounted offer, I decided to go for it."
After clicking the link, entering her card details, and submitting the OTP code shared by the bank, she was shocked to find multiple unauthorised transactions totaling AED 9,872.69 instead of the expected AED 29.
Providing the OTP Makes the Customer Liable for the Transaction
As soon as she received the payment notifications, she requested the bank to hold on the transactions and to block her card.
"I informed the bank within minutes, but they couldn’t stop the payment. What’s worse, I only received one OTP for all these transactions. Why isn't there a system in place to hold such transactions when the bank is informed about fraudulent activity immediately? If they had put a hold on the payments and investigated, the outcome could have been different," she told Khaleej Times.
The bank advised her to file a complaint at the nearest Dubai police station and register the issue on the police's e-crime website, including providing a dispute form and bank statement as the supporting documents.
Although the bank acknowledged that the transactions were on hold, the UAE resident was later informed that the payments had already gone through, much to her disappointment: "I'm devastated. As a middle-class family, this money is a lot, even if I pay it back in instalments."
She registered the case with Dubai Police on August 14, but was informed by the bank a few days later that the case had been closed because she submitted the OTP code, which makes the customer liable for the charges.
UAE residents lured in by fraudulent food delivery offers
The Bur Dubai resident is one of several incidents in the UAE where customers were lured by attractive food delivery offers which turn out to be phishing scams.
Previously, a Dubai resident also ordered from what he believed was the legitimate website of a popular fast food restaurant. An AED 37 meal turned out to be a phishing scam that became an AED 4,848 loss.
Last year, another similar case took place where a UAE resident tried to order an AED 14 combo meal online using his credit card, but received a notification for a whopping AED 14,000 charge instead.
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