Sunday 24 / November / 2024
Muscat: Cheats who attempt to con money out of people in Oman should be reported immediately, Royal Oman Police (ROP) has said. Delaying the report to police makes the case more difficult as most of the expats involved in scams and frauds will have flown out of the country before police can act.
The news comes after the police received reports of some foreigners who flew into the country, duped innocent residents and citizens into parting with their money after promising them high returns, and then flew out before they could be apprehended.
Conviction
While the conviction rate is high where victims report crimes quickly, sometimes a delay in reporting can mean the offender leaves the country.
In one case reported to the Royal Oman Police, one Omani who had an ordinary job asked for a loan of OMR90,000 from family after he met a fraudster who claimed he could double his money.
Major Ghasan Al Zadjali, an officer at the Criminal Investigations Department of the Royal Oman Police said: “In case the victim reports the case late, it makes it harder to catch the fraudsters and to recover money as well. The problem is that some fraudsters leave the country after they commit their crime. Most of the cases were solved in less than two weeks due to the speed of the report.”
He added: “The fraudster’s only concern is how to make money easily. In one of the cases reported to the Royal Oman Police, an Omani citizen who worked in a simple job took loan of OMR90,000 from his family after he was persuaded by a fraudster that they could double his money.”
The major added that more women than men normally fell for these fake schemes, and encouraged them to come forward and report such cases to the police.
“Some women sometimes are reluctant to report such cases to the authorities as they fear for their families,” revealed Al Zadjali. “However, the offenders are arrested after reports are filed against them.
Al Zadjali also shared some of the malpractices used by fraudsters in the country to cheat honest people in the country by unlawfully taking their hard-earned money, and asked people to be on the lookout for offers that felt suspicious or seemed to be too good to be true. He also revealed that the majority of those who fell victim to such scams were people between the ages of 30 and 60.
One of the tricks that some scammers used involved bounced cheques, with which they lured victims when it came to the sale and purchase of property, especially land plots.
“They use such techniques to fool the victims and steal from them. Many fall prey to such scams, especially when it comes to the sale and purchase of land plots.” The ROP advised everyone in Oman to report this illegal practice to them at the earliest.
