A family who moved to Dubai for a fresh start were left stranded with three children and 10 suitcases after allegedly being conned out of thousands by property scammers.
Janine Melissa and her husband Luciano Lorenzo thought they had secured their dream home before relocating.
Instead, they arrived in the UAE to discover they had fallen victim to an elaborate scam involving a genuine property, fake contracts and an agent they say appeared completely legitimate.
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“At first, we simply couldn’t believe what was happening,” Janine told What’s The Jam.
“The property was real. Our friends viewed it in person.
“We followed the entire viewing live through FaceTime.
“The house matched the photos exactly.
“Looking back, our biggest mistake was assuming the agent was legitimate because everything else checked out.”
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The couple, from the Netherlands, had gone to great lengths to check everything about the property before handing over any money.
After finding the house through a Facebook community group, they asked friends already living in Dubai to view it in person.
Their friends collected a key from a lockbox and gave the couple a live FaceTime tour of the property.
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Everything appeared genuine.
The house matched the online photographs perfectly and the paperwork they received appeared authentic, complete with an Ejari watermark and what looked like the owner’s signature.
After making an initial €5 test payment, the couple transferred around €2,570 on 9 June.
Two days later, the agent allegedly called in tears, claiming she had been suspended from work for helping them and urgently needed money for her child.
Wanting to help, the family transferred a further €3,570.
The truth only emerged when they landed in Dubai.
At first, Luciano believed a friend had simply given them the wrong key.
After checking videos and speaking to their friend, he realised they were definitely at the correct property.
Unable to gain entry through the front door, he climbed through a neighbouring garden and entered via the rear of the house.
Inside, everything looked exactly as it had during the FaceTime viewing.
But the supposed owner never arrived and the agent stopped responding altogether.
The family waited from morning until evening before community security became involved and contacted police.
A neighbour then reportedly revealed that other families had previously been caught out by the same scam at the property.
With temperatures reaching 40C, the family were left sitting outside with three young children, ten suitcases and no transport while they tried to work out what to do next.
Community security staff stepped in to help, ordering burgers and soft drinks for the children and assisting the family throughout the ordeal.
Police also attended, took a report and helped them navigate the situation.
An Airbnb was eventually secured as emergency accommodation.
The housing scam is said to have cost the family around 30,000 AED, with further expenses incurred through emergency accommodation and securing another property.
Janine says they were later hit by a separate visa-related scam after discovering a visa application had allegedly never been submitted, resulting in thousands more in fines.
Janine says she has since spoken to another alleged victim who claimed dozens of reports have now been linked to the same scammers, many involving families relocating to Dubai.
Despite the ordeal, she stressed the experience should not reflect negatively on Dubai itself.
She praised both the police and community security staff for their support.
She added: “We are sharing this story because scams like this can happen anywhere.
“We hope it encourages others relocating abroad to thoroughly verify not only the property, but also the agent involved.”
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