Man jailed for blackmailing woman he met on Facebook to see out prison term



DUBAI // A man who was jailed for three months for threatening a woman he met on social media and blackmailing her into paying him Dh7,340 has lost his appeal bid.

The Egyptian, 27, met the woman, who lives in Gaza, on Facebook in January last year. They started chatting on Skype and WhatsApp, through which she sent pictures of herself.

Shortly after she received a threatening message in which he told her to wire him US$2,000 (Dh7340) or he would post her pictures online.

She sent him the amount but he asked for more and gave her a few days to pay.

“I decided then to write to police about him,” said the woman, who sent an email to Dubai Police on February 15 last year.

Police went to his workplace but were told he had been arrested after fighting with one of his colleagues. He was found at his home and confessed that he threatened and blackmailed the woman.

Several chats between him and the woman were found on his laptop and smartphone. Police also found a receipt for a money transfer.

In Dubai Criminal Court last April, the Egyptian denied issuing threats and blackmail charges.

But he was convicted and sentenced to three months in jail, which he will now have to serve.

salamir@thenational.ae

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Pots for the Asian Qualifiers

Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
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Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.

The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.

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Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.

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