Al Ain Court Orders Dh15,000 Refund in Fake Mobile Top-Up Scam Case

An Al Ain court has ordered two young men to repay nearly Dh15,000 to a victim after finding them guilty of operating a fake mobile phone top-up website that deceived users into making payments to a fraudulent platform.

The Al Ain Civil, Commercial and Administrative Court also directed the defendants to pay Dh3,000 in compensation for the material and moral damages suffered by the victim.

According to court records, the victim filed a civil lawsuit after discovering that he had been misled by a bogus online platform designed to closely resemble legitimate mobile phone recharge services. Believing the website to be genuine, he carried out an electronic transaction, only to later realise that he had fallen victim to an online scam and lost his money.

He subsequently sought the return of the full amount transferred, along with compensation for the harm caused by the incident.

After reviewing the case, the court ruled in favour of the plaintiff, concluding that the defendants had unlawfully obtained the funds through fraudulent means and were therefore legally liable to refund the amount.

In its judgment, the court noted that the victim had suffered both financial loss and emotional distress after being exposed to electronic fraud, justifying the award of compensation in addition to restitution.

The ruling comes amid repeated warnings from UAE authorities over fake websites and fraudulent online payment platforms that impersonate telecom and digital service providers in order to steal money and banking information from users.

Cybersecurity experts have urged residents to rely only on official applications and verified payment portals, avoid suspicious links, and carefully verify website addresses before carrying out any online transactions.

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