Fake Employee Swindles Tenant Out of Dh42,500 in Lease Renewal Scam

The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Cases Court has ordered an individual to pay another Dh42,500 after the latter was defrauded during a lease renewal.

The case arose after the defendant rented a property managed by a real estate company. When the lease came up for renewal, he received a message from someone posing as an administrative employee of the company, instructing him to transfer the rent to a specified bank account.

The tenant followed the instructions and transferred the money. He later discovered that the bank account was not linked to the landlord company and realised he had fallen victim to fraud.

The victim subsequently filed a civil lawsuit seeking Dh42,500 in repayment, along with Dh10,000 in compensation for material, moral and psychological damages. He also requested legal interest of 10 per cent on the outstanding amount from the date of filing the lawsuit until full payment, in addition to court fees and costs.

In his complaint, the tenant said he had been renting a property managed by the real estate company and had received an email during the renewal process from an individual claiming to be an administrative employee. The sender provided bank details and asked him to transfer the rent to the account.

After making the payment, the tenant discovered that the account did not belong to the landlord and reported the incident to the authorities.

The report led to the case being referred to the Public Prosecution, which registered a criminal case against the accused for allegedly misappropriating funds through fraudulent means.

The civil court subsequently ordered the defendant to pay Dh42,500 to the victim.