A new WhatsApp scam is currently doing the rounds inviting residents to participate in a fake contest to win prize money of Dhs 1 million.
UAE residents are receiving a message with a fake link to the website of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. When the link is clicked, the fake website opens with His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum's photo, and users are asked to answer three religious questions to win prize money of Dhs 1 Million.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) took to Twitter to warn people against this new scam. The message from the TRA said, "Scam messages start popping at the beginning of Ramadan. This site alleged that it is Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashid’s official website. When you see the link on WhatsApp, it shows that it’s the Sheikh’s website but when you click on the link, the website changes and is not like the one showed in the message. The site is fake. Be careful of short links received from unknown people. It might be a trick to scam you, be careful."
TRA urges people to be careful of online scams.