Cybercrime expert urges everyone to dispose of it properly
Experts have urged residents to avoid sharing their SIM cards and dispose of them properly.
A cybercrime expert from the Sharjah Public Prosecutor’s Office said Khaleej times that there have been several incidents where a SIM card has been used to commit a crime of which the owner was unaware.
“Residents should not buy SIM cards and give them to others. If a crime is committed using the number, it will go to the person in whose name the SIM card is registered. It may take time to prove that the card was used by someone else,” the official explained.
The expert elaborated on a case where a runaway maid posted a family’s personal clips on social media. Police attempted to track the maid using the phone number associated with the account. However, the phone number belonged to another housekeeper, hampering the investigation.
Cybercrime can also take place through platforms such as social media.
Criminals can use this social messaging app to blackmail, threaten or defraud other people.
Evidence
Conversations that take place on WhatsApp can be presented as evidence in court, the expert said.
“The conversation should be saved as an electronic record and should be retained in the form in which it was created, sent or received for use as legal evidence,” the official added.
Emojis
It is advisable to avoid the use of emojis/emoticons as they may not fully convey what is meant – especially if used as evidence.
Salim Sahoh, Legal Adviser and Barrister at the Sharjah Court, said: “For example, if the party to the agreement asks you ‘Are you ready’? You must respond with “I’m ready to deliver the goods” and state the intent of it. Don’t just give a thumbs up in agreement.
Nicknames, abbreviations
Sahoh also said that a person’s full name should be used as the contact name because then the other party will not be able to deny any allegations against them. It can be proven that the number belongs to them, however, making sure that at the very beginning will help save time and effort.
If the defendant/plaintiff wishes to keep the contact name as something else, the contact name must be changed before printing the chat and sending it to court as evidence.
Text messages on voice notes
Lawyer Adil Al Shamsi said trying to use text messages instead of sending voice notes. Transcription of voice notes ends up taking a lot of time as it is done by a third party.
He also said that experts are often called in to establish a case. Other than that, chat footage can be faked and doesn’t carry much weight in court.
“If one party denies the allegations and there is no way the complainant can prove it, they can get the other person via WhatsApp to write clearly that they owe you a certain amount,” Al Shamsi said.
Electronic file
Dubai Courts lawyer Mahjoub Yousif said the law requires a preserved document or recording of information and conversations. He added that this condition is met when conversations are saved in the form that they were sent or received on the app.
Article No. 4 of the Federal Law No. 1 of 2006 on electronic transactions and commerce stipulates that the information must be recorded in such a way that it can be consulted later.
Facebook and Twitter
Yousif also said it’s difficult to verify people’s identities on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. This can become a hindrance to the case.
He said that in order to establish the identity of an account holder, one had to get in touch with officials of the platform. “Of course, there is greater difficulty if the account is from outside the country,” he added.
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