Filed on December 17, 2018 | Last updated on December 17, 2018 at 05.45 am

They would either tell victims to transfer money as fees or ask them to provide bank account details.

A 19-member gang of Asians, who were scamming residents by telling them they won bogus cash prizes, was recently arrested by the Ajman Police.

Mohammed Hamad bin Yafour Al Ghafli, deputy director of the criminal investigations department at the Ajman Police, said they had received reports on the gang calling victims about a Dh200,000 prize they had "supposedly won from a telecommunications company".

Then, the fraudsters would either tell victims to transfer money as fees or ask them to provide bank account details, Al Ghafli said in a post on the Ajman Police's Instagram account.

A task force was formed to investigate the reports and gather evidence, which pointed to the gang's hide-out in Ajman, he added. Upon their arrest, the gang confessed to the crime.

Al Ghafli urged the public to be wary of such scams, reiterating that sensitive personal information, such as bank account details, should be kept private at all costs.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com