Dubai's e-police probe 222 internet crime cases

Police chiefs in Dubai say a team set up to carry out round-the-clock checks on the internet has investigated a total of 222 cases so far this year.

Cases included 87 involving fraud and other financial crimes, 38 cases of illegal hacking and 92 cases of defamation and extortion.

They uncovered another five cases where people has set up fake sites in order to defraud customers, Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm reported on Thursday.

The team is also working closely with the UAE central bank and local banks in a bid to crackdown on the type of electronic fraud that impact the banking system in September, deputy general commander of Dubai Police, Major General Khamis Mattar Al Mezaina, said.

He added that members of the electronic patrol team had set up special forums and used assumed names in a bid to get information from web users about potential criminal activity.