س: سيدي العزيز / سيدتي العزيزة، هل يمكن استخدام رسائل التليجرام كدليل لرفع قضية إساءة وابتزاز؟

Q: Dear Lawyers, Is there any way to take action or legal proceedings in cases of online scams? One of my friends was cheated by a lady on a matrimonial website, and he is still seeking to recover his money.

Q: Hello! I got scammed by my friend. She asked me to give her money, promising to return it, but when I asked for my money, she refused to give it back. There’s no contact between us except for WhatsApp messages, and I transferred the money to her via bank (I have the bank receipts). A few days later, I discovered that she scams many people like this, including her colleagues. She claims that she’s broke but uses this money in stock trading. Everyone is afraid to come forward because they don’t want to spend money on a case they believe they will never win. People around me told me that without a written agreement, I can’t go to court because I will definitely lose. They said, “You don’t have any solid evidence.” However, I have WhatsApp messages and know three people whom she scammed and took thousands from. What do you advise me to do? Should I go to court, or should I let it go because I’ll never win?

Q: Dear Lawyers, Last month, I fell into an online money-earning scam and invested my money. Initially, I earned some money, but two days later, someone transferred the amount I earned to my bank account. That person contacted the bank, and they called me, stating that the money was accidentally sent to me and asked me to return it, which I did. In short, I lost the money I invested, and when I tried to contact the scammers, they kicked me out of the group. After refunding the money, the person filed a fraud case against me, unaware that I was also a victim. What should I do now? How can I resolve this situation? I don’t care about getting my money back, but I want to avoid any legal case since I already returned the money and was scammed myself. What steps should I take?

Q: Hello, What is the punishment for misdemeanor cases in cybercrime when there is no victim or complaint, and someone else used my number on a fake website without my knowledge? I even have a complaint copy from my home country. What could be the worst-case scenario, considering the main person is not in the country and has not attended the court hearing, while only I am attending?

تطرَّق قانون العقوبات الإماراتي مثل سائر القوانين لجريمة الاحتيال بنص المادة 399 من قانون العقوبات الاتحادي، حيث نص بأنه يعاقب بالحبس أو بالغرامة كل من توصل إلى الاستيلاء لنفسه أو لغيره على مال منقول أو سند أو توقيع هذا السند أو إلى إلغائه أو إتلافه أو تعديله، وذلك بالاستعانة بطريقة احتيالية أو باتخاذ اسم كاذب أو صفة غير صحيحة متى كان من شأن ذلك خداع المجني عليه وحمله على التسليم. فجريمة الاحتيال تتطلب وجود الركن المادي بالاستيلاء على مال الغير، والركن المعنوي المتمثل بالمناورات الاحتيالية.

The provisions of this Federal Decree-Law, known as the "New Cybercrimes Law", govern Cybercrimes regulations in the United Arab Emirates. The New Cybercrimes Law repeals the previous UAE Cybercrimes Law (Federal Decree-Law No. (5) of 2012 on Combating Cybercrimes).

The provisions of this Federal Decree-Law No. (31) of 2021 Promulgating the Crimes and Penalties Law, known as the "New UAE Penal Code", governs criminal actions in the United Arab Emirates. The New Penal Code repeals the previous UAE Penal Code (Federal Law No. (3) of 1987 Promulgating the Penal Code).