Scammers try to SIM-swap Dubai citizens hours after Iranian missile strikes
(2026/03/02)
- Reference: 1772458972
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/03/02/dubai_iran_sim_swap/
- Source link:
Scammers targeted Dubai citizens mere hours after missiles struck the city, attempting to gain access to their bank accounts, police have warned.
Financially motivated cybercriminals are contacting citizens under the guise of Dubai Crisis Management, a fictitious department ostensibly tied to Dubai Police, in attempts to gather information that could be used in SIM-swap attacks.
The police said that the fraudsters are impersonating officials to acquire "sensitive information, including UAE Pass credentials and Emirates ID details, from vulnerable individuals rocked by the deadly Iranian missile attacks on Saturday."
[1]
"Dubai Police caution that disclosing such data may enable criminals to carry out SIM swap operations and gain unauthorized access to bank accounts through mobile banking applications," the police [2]announced on Sunday.
[3]
[4]
"Dubai Police affirm that they do not request confidential information or verification codes via telephone calls or text messages under any circumstances."
SIM swapping involves gathering details on individuals in order to socially engineer mobile network operators into switching control of SIMs, and the communications that are sent to them, from the rightful owners to the attackers.
[5]
Successful attacks can see [6]one-time passcodes associated with authentication into mobile banking apps intercepted and abused to fraudulently gain access to victims' bank accounts.
Such attacks have historically [7]proved highly effective , and were for a long time the de facto tactics deployed by cybercrime groups such as Scattered Spider.
[8]Iran all but vanishes from the global internet amid US-Israel strikes
[9]OpenAI's Altman says Pentagon set 'scary precedent' binning Anthropic
[10]AWS Middle East disrupted after 'objects struck datacenter' amid Iran war
[11]Ex-Google engineers accused of helping themselves to chip security secrets
Of the recent scam attempts, Dubai Police said: "Members of the public are strongly urged not to share personal or banking information with any unverified party and to report any suspected fraudulent activity immediately through official channels by calling 901 or via the eCrime platform dedicated to cybercrime reports."
Missile strikes
The news follows major geopolitical developments in recent days. The US and Israel launched aerial strikes on Iran, starting on February 28, reportedly killing hundreds of civilians, including children, and top officials, such as supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran responded by attacking US military bases, as well as firing missiles at other targets, including a UK Royal Air Force base in Cyprus, and various sites in Dubai.
The city's airport, as well as Abu Dhabi's, was bombed, leading to a number of casualties and fatalities, while drone strikes also hit luxury hotels, whose staff guided guests into underground car parks.
[12]
US President Donald Trump said the US-Israel strikes were launched in response to longstanding campaigns of violence toward the US, and Iran's continued refusal to end its nuclear program.
Iran has called its retaliation a "legitimate act of self-defense." ®
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[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aaXCNyZfclvHfbiNYpVnpwAAAVY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://x.com/DubaiPoliceHQ/status/2028240436632916220
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aaXCNyZfclvHfbiNYpVnpwAAAVY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/06/multifactor_authentication_passkeys/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/23/mandiant_cto_scattered_spider/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/02/iran_internet_blackout/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/02/open_ai_dow_anthropic_ai_ethics/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/01/asia_tech_news_roundup/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/20/google_ip_theft_charges/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aaXCNyZfclvHfbiNYpVnpwAAAVY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Financially motivated cybercriminals are contacting citizens under the guise of Dubai Crisis Management, a fictitious department ostensibly tied to Dubai Police, in attempts to gather information that could be used in SIM-swap attacks.
The police said that the fraudsters are impersonating officials to acquire "sensitive information, including UAE Pass credentials and Emirates ID details, from vulnerable individuals rocked by the deadly Iranian missile attacks on Saturday."
[1]
"Dubai Police caution that disclosing such data may enable criminals to carry out SIM swap operations and gain unauthorized access to bank accounts through mobile banking applications," the police [2]announced on Sunday.
[3]
[4]
"Dubai Police affirm that they do not request confidential information or verification codes via telephone calls or text messages under any circumstances."
SIM swapping involves gathering details on individuals in order to socially engineer mobile network operators into switching control of SIMs, and the communications that are sent to them, from the rightful owners to the attackers.
[5]
Successful attacks can see [6]one-time passcodes associated with authentication into mobile banking apps intercepted and abused to fraudulently gain access to victims' bank accounts.
Such attacks have historically [7]proved highly effective , and were for a long time the de facto tactics deployed by cybercrime groups such as Scattered Spider.
[8]Iran all but vanishes from the global internet amid US-Israel strikes
[9]OpenAI's Altman says Pentagon set 'scary precedent' binning Anthropic
[10]AWS Middle East disrupted after 'objects struck datacenter' amid Iran war
[11]Ex-Google engineers accused of helping themselves to chip security secrets
Of the recent scam attempts, Dubai Police said: "Members of the public are strongly urged not to share personal or banking information with any unverified party and to report any suspected fraudulent activity immediately through official channels by calling 901 or via the eCrime platform dedicated to cybercrime reports."
Missile strikes
The news follows major geopolitical developments in recent days. The US and Israel launched aerial strikes on Iran, starting on February 28, reportedly killing hundreds of civilians, including children, and top officials, such as supreme leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran responded by attacking US military bases, as well as firing missiles at other targets, including a UK Royal Air Force base in Cyprus, and various sites in Dubai.
The city's airport, as well as Abu Dhabi's, was bombed, leading to a number of casualties and fatalities, while drone strikes also hit luxury hotels, whose staff guided guests into underground car parks.
[12]
US President Donald Trump said the US-Israel strikes were launched in response to longstanding campaigns of violence toward the US, and Iran's continued refusal to end its nuclear program.
Iran has called its retaliation a "legitimate act of self-defense." ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aaXCNyZfclvHfbiNYpVnpwAAAVY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[2] https://x.com/DubaiPoliceHQ/status/2028240436632916220
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aaXCNyZfclvHfbiNYpVnpwAAAVY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aaXCNyZfclvHfbiNYpVnpwAAAVY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aaXCNyZfclvHfbiNYpVnpwAAAVY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/06/multifactor_authentication_passkeys/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/23/mandiant_cto_scattered_spider/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/02/iran_internet_blackout/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/02/open_ai_dow_anthropic_ai_ethics/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/01/asia_tech_news_roundup/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/20/google_ip_theft_charges/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_security/cybercrime&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aaXCNyZfclvHfbiNYpVnpwAAAVY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Most everyone has one... (Re: Arschlöcher)
abufrejoval
budholes are very evenly distributed, among sexes, races, classes, nationalities... just turn around and start counting!
So would an Iranian hacker feel justified in scamming people who've allowed their guests to war on them from across the gulf?
If I'd put myself into his boots or sandals, I could only answer "yes".
Is there any sense to talk about legitimacy in this context?
Das Recht des Stärkeren ist die neue Normale der Weltpolitik.
(basically, if you hold the gun, you win the argument)
That's the tiny little problem: you ignore international law, that eventually costs you civilization right into arm's reach.
But you can rest assured, all money, including crypto, is worthless, once that happens: nothing lost, nothing gained by then.
Re: Most everyone has one... (Arschlöcher)
elsergiovolador
Don't forget that apart from the war, many people simply loathe the rich and stupid.
Wenn zwei Hunde sich beißen, freut sich der Dritte.
Korev
> Iran responded by attacking US military bases, as well as firing missiles at other targets, including a UK Royal Air Force Station in Cyprus, and various sites in Dubai.
FTFY
Arschlöcher
Jeez, there are some loathsome twats in this world... including, of course, the current occupant of the White House.