Dubai Police have arrested six suspects accused of defrauding a victim of Dh2.6 million through an illegal currency exchange scheme, according to the force's General Department of Criminal Investigation. The stolen sum comprised Dh2 million in cash and roughly Dh600,000 worth of digital assets.
Investigators said the victim was approached at an unlicensed currency exchange, where the suspects posed as legitimate brokers. They persuaded the victim to transfer cryptocurrency holdings into decentralized digital wallets under their control. Once the transfer was complete, the suspects seized the cash on hand and fled the scene.
Police said the group believed the complexity of cryptocurrency transactions, combined with the difficulty of tracing movements across digital wallets, would shield them from identification. That assumption proved wrong: detectives were able to trace the digital trail and identify all six suspects within a short period, leading to their arrest.
The case is among the latest in a string of cryptocurrency-related fraud incidents in the UAE, a trend that has drawn growing attention from law enforcement. Dubai Police reiterated their warning to residents and visitors against conducting any digital currency transactions through unlicensed exchanges or unverified individuals, noting that such dealings carry no legal protection. Victims of unlicensed crypto transactions, officials cautioned, have very limited chances of recovering their funds once money changes hands.
Authorities said the case has been referred to public prosecution for further legal proceedings, while investigations continue to determine whether additional individuals were involved in the scheme.