The Emirates Consumers Association has warned about social media pages impersonating consumer protection bodies in the UAE. The association stated that it has detected and received complaints from consumers about entities on these pages that ask them to register complaints and then send a link to obtain personal and banking data, claiming to refund the complaint amounts. However, these links are an attempt to hack consumers' accounts. The association stressed that official consumer protection authorities do not request such data. Secretary-General of the Emirates Consumers Association, Mohammad Al Naour, said the association has tracked and received complaints about social media pages impersonating consumer protection bodies, attempting to defraud consumers. These pages ask the consumer to register a complaint, then send a message confirming its successful registration and that it will be processed for resolution. After that, they send a link to obtain the consumer's personal and banking data, under the pretext of refunding the amounts due for the complaint. Al Naour added that one of the consumers whose complaints were tracked, for example, wanted to return goods he had purchased due to non-compliance with specifications or agreed-upon terms, and hoped to retrieve the paid amounts by sending his bank account data, but an attempt was made to hack his account after he clicked on the link sent to him. He confirmed that the association has received observations and complaints from consumers about these pages, and that it is important for consumers to have sufficient awareness and caution when dealing with such fake pages, and to know that official consumer protection authorities do not request such banking and personal data, nor do they send links to be clicked. He called on consumers to verify the authenticity of any pages claiming to specialize in the consumer protection sector. Al Naour pointed out that this type of page targets consumers to defraud them, using designs and logos that suggest they are official consumer protection bodies in the country. He called on consumers to deal with official and trusted authorities, not browse such unofficial pages, and not provide them with personal data, digital identity data, or bank account information, as they are fake pages. He said: 'Consumer awareness is very important in combating this type of page by ignoring dealing with them, reporting them to the relevant authorities upon detection, and verifying that they are fake.'
