UAE - Reporting Crypto Related Fraud

Reporting a Scam or Crypto Fraud in the United Arab Emirates

If you have been the victim of a scam or cryptocurrency-related fraud in the United Arab Emirates, you should act quickly.

The most important steps are to:

• Report the crime to the relevant police authority

• Notify any bank, exchange or payment provider involved

• Preserve all available evidence

• Identify any cryptocurrency exchanges or other service providers involved

• Avoid sending any further money

The correct reporting route may depend on the emirate in which the crime occurred.

Report the Crime to the Police

The UAE Government provides several official routes for reporting cybercrime and fraud, including the Ministry of Interior, Dubai Police and local police stations.

If there is an immediate threat or emergency, call 999.

Dubai

If the crime falls within Dubai's jurisdiction, you can report it through the Dubai Police eCrime portal.

The service can be used by members of the public to report cybercrime occurring within Dubai.

Report an eCrime — Dubai Police

Abu Dhabi

If you require an official criminal report, consider using the UAE Ministry of Interior application or attending your nearest police station.

Abu Dhabi Police also operates the Aman service for providing security-related information.

Aman can be contacted through:

• Telephone: [phone]

• SMS: 2828

• Abu Dhabi Police online services

Aman is primarily an intelligence and security information service. If you require a formal criminal complaint or police report, use the Ministry of Interior service or attend a police station.

Other Emirates

Victims in other Emirates can report cybercrime through the UAE Ministry of Interior or by attending their nearest police station.

UAE Government — Cybercrime and Digital Security

Contact Your Bank or Payment Provider Immediately

If money was sent through a:

• UAE bank

• Credit or debit card

• Money transfer company

• Payment service

• Cryptocurrency exchange

contact the organisation's fraud or compliance department immediately.

Explain that the transaction is connected to suspected fraud and ask whether they can:

• Stop or recall the payment

• Flag the receiving account

• Preserve relevant transaction information

• Provide guidance on their fraud-reporting process

You should do this even if you have already filed a police report.

The sooner a financial institution is notified, the greater the opportunity may be to identify or preserve funds.

If Cryptocurrency Was Involved

If cryptocurrency was sent as part of the scam, preserve the relevant blockchain information.

Where possible, record:

• Transaction hashes / TXIDs

• Sending wallet addresses

• Receiving wallet addresses

• Cryptocurrency and network used

• Amount transferred

• Date and time of the transaction

• Exchange deposit addresses

• Any identified service or exchange

• Police crime or reference number

If the funds reach a centralised cryptocurrency exchange, contact the exchange's fraud, compliance or investigations team.

Ask them to preserve relevant account and transaction information pending contact from law enforcement.

A cryptocurrency exchange may not freeze an account, disclose customer information or return funds based solely on a request from a victim. Formal law-enforcement involvement may be required.

Report Relevant Crypto Activity to VARA

If the matter involves cryptocurrency activity connected to Dubai, you may also consider reporting it to the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority — VARA.

VARA accepts reports concerning licensed Virtual Asset Service Providers and potentially unauthorised or suspicious virtual-asset activity.

Report Virtual Asset Activity to VARA

Reporting a matter to VARA should be treated as an additional regulatory step. It does not replace reporting the crime to the police.

Escalate Financial Complaints to Sanadak

If your complaint involves a UAE-regulated bank, insurer or financial institution and the organisation has not resolved the matter satisfactorily, you may be able to escalate the complaint to Sanadak.

Sanadak is the UAE's independent financial and insurance ombudsman.

Normally, you should make a formal complaint to the financial institution first before escalating the matter.

Sanadak — UAE Financial Ombudsman

Preserve Your Evidence

Do not delete messages, accounts, emails or transaction information connected to the scam.

Where possible, preserve:

• Bank statements

• Payment receipts

• Cryptocurrency transaction hashes

• Wallet addresses

• Exchange deposit and withdrawal records

• Emails

• WhatsApp and Telegram messages

• Full chat exports

• Telephone numbers

• Email addresses

• Social-media accounts and usernames

• Website URLs

• Domain names

• Screenshots of investment platforms

• Screenshots of account balances

• Contracts and invoices

• Names or aliases used by the suspects

• Dates and times of communications

• A chronological timeline of events

For cryptocurrency cases, you may also provide investigators with a blockchain tracing chart.

Any preliminary tracing chart should clearly distinguish confirmed blockchain transactions from assumptions, attribution hypotheses or investigative leads.

Do Not Send Any More Money

Do not make further payments to the scammer.

Be particularly cautious if you are told that additional money is required for:

• Taxes

• Withdrawal fees

• AML clearance

• Verification fees

• Security deposits

• Account unlocking

• Release fees

• Legal fees required before funds can be returned

Requests for additional payments are commonly used to extract further money from victims.

Be Alert to Recovery Scams

Victims of fraud are sometimes targeted again by people claiming that they can recover stolen funds.

They may present themselves as:

• Investigators

• Lawyers

• Cryptocurrency recovery companies

• Hackers

• Law-enforcement representatives

• Regulators

• Blockchain specialists

They may claim that your funds have already been located but require an upfront payment before they can be released.

Always independently verify any organisation before paying for a recovery or investigation service.

Be extremely cautious of anyone guaranteeing that cryptocurrency or stolen funds can be recovered. No legitimate investigator can guarantee recovery.

The First 24 Hours

For cryptocurrency fraud, the first 24 hours can be particularly important.

Where possible, prioritise the following:

Police report → Bank or exchange notification → Identify exchange endpoints → Preserve evidence → Provide law enforcement with wallet addresses, TXIDs and tracing information

If stolen funds are currently located at a centralised exchange, there may be an opportunity for law enforcement to request preservation or restraint of the relevant account.

There is no guarantee that funds will be frozen or recovered, but an exchange endpoint can potentially provide investigators with a more actionable lead than funds remaining solely within self-custodied wallets.

If You Are Outside the UAE

If you are located outside the UAE but the scam involves a:

• UAE bank account

• UAE company

• UAE-based individual

• UAE cryptocurrency exchange

• Dubai-based Virtual Asset Service Provider

you should normally consider reporting the crime to both your local law-enforcement agency and the relevant UAE authority.

Provide your local police with all available UAE-related information, including:

• Bank account details

• Cryptocurrency addresses

• Transaction hashes

• Company information

• Telephone numbers

• Email addresses

• Exchange details

• Any tracing information available

Your domestic law-enforcement agency may then be able to make formal enquiries through the appropriate international channels.

Some UAE reporting systems have geographical jurisdiction requirements. For example, Dubai Police's eCrime service is intended for matters falling within Dubai's jurisdiction.