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Most e-crimes from across UAE border

As many as 140 cybercrime cases were reviewed by the Abu Dhabi court last year. Most of the cases reviewed were those of fraud, and verdicts were issued on lawsuits related to libel and abusive language posted by the offenders on the social networking site “Twitter”, said Counsellor Hassan Mohammed Al Hammadi, head of the Finance Public Prosecution.

He described the crimes as dangerous and complex as most of them were done from across the UAE border, and saw the use of latest hi-technology. The perpetrators of such crimes were from outside the UAE in most of the filed and adjudicated cases. Therefore, forging local and international efforts alike are required to confront the menace, he said.

Al Hammadi made the remarks at the third meeting with media at the Judiciary House in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday, that discussed cybercrimes and means of combating them; he said the lawmaker has realised the importance of enacting an anti-cybercrime law.

“The lawmaker issued the federal law No( 2 ) of 2006 on combating the cybercrimes, but practical reality proved the statute had failed to keep in line with the rapid developments and the ensuing risks due to the amazing progress in modern technologies”, he noted, adding that, the imperative need required stricter penalties and expanding its scope on some existing crimes. This had prompted the lawmaker to revoke the law, and replace it by the decreed federal law No 5 of 2012 on combating the IT crimes, he said.

The rules of the law are enforced upon whoever commits the crimes stated in it, whether inside or outside the UAE, if the subject matter of the crime is IT system, internet, portal.

The law includes punishments of 15 years in jail and fine which doesn’t exceed Dh2 million, as well as complementary penalties such as confiscation and deportation for convicted foreigners.

Al Hammadi said these cases are like an offer by a scam or a fraudster asking for paying the charges of a ticket or fines at a cheap price. One of the victims was taken by surprise when he learnt the price of the ticket was paid illegally by using a stolen credit card. Citing another example, he said a number of internet hackers had attempted to defraud the country’s banks.

Counsellor Ayman Hanafi, undersecretary of the Finance Prosecution at the Abu Dhabi Courts, said it is difficult to prove the cybercrimes, because the alleged scammer doesn’t leave traces after committing the crime. “Such crimes are done so swiftly that they take only a few minutes, and sometimes only seconds”, he said.

These crimes are wide spread in the world, and the number of cybercrimes registered in the emirate is not as big as compared with other big countries, though the UAE holds the top position globally in the number of internet users. Moreover, the prominent economic position of the UAE makes it most vulnerable to such type of crimes than other countries in the region.

“UAE has made enormous efforts in combating such crimes in terms of laws and setting up specialised judicial departments including the National Electronic Security Authority (Nesa)”, he added.

Al Hammadi said Media Prosecution, an affiliate of the Attorney-General’s office, is a benefit for media persons, as the leadership in the country has considered maintaining a stature for the media in the society, so, it had established the prosecution in 2009 with the aim of reviewing the cases related to publishing. This saves the journalists’ time and makes his/her effort less cumbersome. Instead of reporting to police stations, media can straight have the public prosecution to look into the case.

Meanwhile the Judicial Department in Abu Dhabi has honoured Khaleej Times for cooperating with the department, and in preserving the standards in publishing the news. -malzarooni@khaleejtimes.com