How to Avoid Beggar Scams During Eid in the UAE

Eid is a time of generosity. The instinct to give is genuine, culturally encouraged, and spiritually meaningful during this period. That instinct is also, unfortunately, exactly what a growing number of scammers are designed to exploit. The UAE authorities have been consistent and increasingly vocal on this point: the begging and fraudulent donation activity that peaks during Ramadan and the Eid holidays is organised, professional, and not what it appears to be.

Understanding how these scams work, and what to do instead, does not make you less generous. It makes your generosity more effective.

The Scale of the Problem

The numbers are striking enough to warrant taking seriously. The Chairman of the UAE Cybersecurity Council, Dr. Mohammed Al Kuwaiti, has warned the public about the surge in cyber scams that intensify during holidays and religious occasions like Eid, revealing that more than 1,200 cases of online begging had been reported in 2024 alone, impacting individuals across all demographics.

On the streets, the picture is similar. Dubai Police arrested 222 beggars during Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr in 2025 as part of a continued effort to combat begging and related fraudulent activities. Dubai Police have also revealed that 99 percent of beggars consider begging to be their profession, at the expense of other genuinely deserving people. A real-world test conducted by Sharjah Police illustrated the point vividly: a man was able to collect Dh367 in just one hour by playing the role of a beggar and exploiting residents’ emotions during Ramadan.

Street Begging: What You Are Actually Seeing

The person approaching you outside a mosque, at a traffic light, near a mall entrance, or in a residential neighbourhood during Eid is almost certainly part of what police describe as a professional operation. Begging can also lead to other crimes such as burglary and the exploitation of children, the elderly, and People of Determination to raise money illegally. Children and elderly individuals are sometimes deployed specifically because they trigger stronger emotional responses — that is the calculation behind their presence, not circumstance.

Police authorities across the UAE, including in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and Ras Al Khaimah, have deployed patrols at places frequented by beggars, including mosques, markets, malls, banks, and residential areas precisely because these are the locations where people’s charitable instincts are most easily activated.

The legal position is unambiguous. In the UAE, begging carries a fine of Dh5,000 and up to three months in jail, while running a begging ring or importing beggars increases the penalty to six months imprisonment and a Dh100,000 fine. Giving money to a street beggar does not protect you from anything legally, but it does financially sustain an operation the law is actively trying to shut down.

Online Scams: More Sophisticated Than They Appear

The digital version of begging scams has grown considerably more complex in recent years and deserves particular attention during the holiday period. Fraudsters use fabricated humanitarian stories to trick people into donating money, exploiting social media platforms and advanced technology to manipulate emotions. These scams often involve fake accounts, emotionally charged images or videos, and even deepfake technology to impersonate individuals or create fraudulent websites.

Fake charity campaigns, urgent appeals for sick relatives, WhatsApp messages from apparent acquaintances in distress, and social media fundraisers that appear to be linked to real causes are all common formats during Eid. The emotional pressure is intentional — the story is designed to make you act before you think.

Unpermitted fundraising in the UAE carries fines of up to Dh500,000, which gives some sense of how seriously the authorities treat this category of fraud. The fact that penalties are this severe has not eliminated the practice, which means the financial returns for scammers are high enough to make the risk worthwhile. That is a useful thing to keep in mind when you receive an urgent donation request from an unfamiliar account.

How to Give Without Getting Scammed

The straightforward answer is to donate only through registered, authorised charities. Authorities consistently urge that donations be made only through legitimate charities to avoid scams. In the UAE, charities and fundraising organisations must be licensed by the relevant authorities, and the list of approved entities is publicly available. Zakat funds, official food banks, and established humanitarian organisations operating within the UAE all accept donations through proper channels and ensure that the money reaches people who actually need it.

If you want to give during Eid and make sure it counts, a donation box at a mosque or a direct contribution to a known and licensed charity is the most effective path. The satisfaction of pressing cash into someone’s hand on the street is understandable, but the evidence strongly suggests it is not achieving what you hope.

Reporting Suspicious Activity

If you encounter a beggar or suspect a fraudulent fundraising campaign, the UAE provides clear reporting channels. Depending on the emirate, you can report begging activity to Abu Dhabi’s Aman service on 8002626, or to Dubai Police on 901 or 8004888. Online fraud and suspicious donation campaigns can be reported through the Dubai Police app’s Police Eye feature or through the E-Crime platform at ecrime.ae.

Reporting is not an act of meanness. It is the most constructive thing you can do when you suspect exploitation is happening in front of you — both for the broader community and for the people being used as props in operations they may have little control over.

The Spirit of Eid, Directed Well

None of this is an argument against generosity. Eid is precisely the occasion for it. The point is simply that generosity, to be meaningful, needs to reach the people it is intended for. The infrastructure exists in the UAE to ensure that it does — licensed charities, official zakat channels, verified donation platforms — and using that infrastructure is the difference between charity that helps and charity that funds a scam.

The Eid spirit is real. The people trying to exploit it are real too. Knowing the difference is the most practical thing you can do with both of those facts.