Guide · updated 16.10.2026 · 10 min read · Lucent Legal team

Dubai Police called you: how to verify it and what to do next

A call "from the police" in the UAE is one of two things: a real summons in a case, or a scammer using a police badge as cover. Dubai Police itself warns about fake calls, texts and even video calls with someone in uniform. Verify the caller first, then decide how and with whom you go in.

Step 1. Check that it's really the police

Scammers posing as Dubai Police keep changing their scripts. In April 2026 Dubai Police warned again about a rise in such calls. The caller claims to be police, a bank or a government office, and pushes you to act now: pay today or face a fine, a case, a frozen account.

Red flags:

• they ask for card details, CVV, an SMS code, a password or your UAE PASS login;
• they want a "fine" or "bail" paid through a link or to a personal account;
• they threaten arrest or deportation on the call unless you pay at once;
• they invite you to a video call on Google Meet or a similar app, with a man in police uniform on screen. Dubai Police warned about this scheme in 2025.

How to verify:

1. Share nothing and pay nothing. Hang up.
2. Call 901 yourself. It's the Dubai Police non-emergency line, open 24/7.
3. Give the station, the officer's name and any case number the caller mentioned. Ask whether a summons exists in your name.
4. If the call was fake, report it through the eCrime platform, by calling 901, or through the Police Eye service in the Dubai Police app.

If you already sent money, call your bank right away and file a report. Our guide on how to report fraud in Dubai walks through it.

Step 2. The summons is real: should you go?

Yes. The UAE Criminal Procedures Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2022) gives the prosecutor three tools: a notice to appear, an arrest warrant and a travel ban. If you skip a notice to appear without an acceptable excuse, the prosecutor can issue a warrant for your arrest (Article 100). A conversation turns into a detention.

Sick on the day, or outside the country? Tell the station in advance, yourself or through a lawyer. The law lets a lawyer or relative present an excuse for an accused person's absence from court (Article 161).

On the phone, ask what case this is and in what capacity they want you: witness, complainant or suspect. The answer tells you whether to bring a lawyer to the first visit.

Step 3. What to bring

• Your Emirates ID and passport. Visitors without residency bring the passport.
• The case number or officer's name, if you got them.
• Documents on the matter: contracts, messages, receipts, IOUs. Hand over copies and keep the originals.
• A list of any medication you take.
• Phone numbers for a relative and a lawyer, written on paper. Police may ask you to hand over your phone.

Tell someone where you're going and when. If you don't check in by the agreed time, they should follow our guide on what to do in the first 48 hours after an arrest.

Step 4. Your rights at the station and the prosecution

The rights are the same for citizens and foreigners. Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2022 lists them:

• Know the accusation and stay silent. Before anyone takes your statement, they must tell you what you're suspected of and that you can remain silent (Article 48).
• An interpreter. If you don't speak Arabic, the officer, prosecutor or judge must appoint an approved interpreter (Article 8). Ask for one out loud, even if the conversation started in English.
• A lawyer at prosecution questioning. Your lawyer has the right to attend the investigation. The prosecutor can decide otherwise in the interest of the investigation (Article 98).
• No coercion. Evidence obtained through torture or degrading treatment is invalid (Article 2).

The law also sets deadlines after an arrest. Police must refer you to the Public Prosecution within 48 hours. Prosecutors must question you within 24 hours and then decide: release, release on bail, or custody. See our guide to bail in the UAE.

Step 5. The statement in Arabic

Police and prosecutors almost always record statements in Arabic. The prosecutor writes down your answers (Article 97), and that text goes into the case file.

• Ask the interpreter to read the whole statement back to you.
• If something is wrong, say so right away and ask for a correction.
• If you don't understand the text, don't sign. The UK Foreign Office says it plainly: don't sign documents you don't understand.
• Ignore offers like "sign and you can go home." The official procedure has no such shortcut.

Step 6. Get the case number and track the status

Leave the station with your case number. Ask for it and write it down.

• Dubai Police. The website dubaipolice.gov.ae and the Dubai Police app have a free service called "Criminal Status of Financial Cases". You search by Emirates ID and confirm with an SMS code.
• Dubai Public Prosecution. The case inquiry on dxbpp.gov.ae needs the prosecution case number. It won't find a case by Emirates ID.

For other emirates and checks without an Emirates ID, see how to check if you have a case in the UAE.

When to call a lawyer before you go

• They summon you as a suspect, not a witness.
• The case is financial: a cheque, a debt, fraud, a partner dispute.
• You don't speak Arabic and don't trust the translation.
• You're abroad and the summons came in the UAE.
• Nobody told you on the phone why they want you.

Lucent Legal holds a management consultancy licence (DET No. 1192929). We review the situation, check the case status and prepare you for questioning. At the prosecution and in court, a UAE-licensed advocate we work with represents you. Nobody can promise an outcome: the prosecution and the court decide.

Arrest, bail and closing a case are covered in our UAE criminal law hub.

Topic: UAE Criminal Law 2026

Get a lawyer's help: Criminal lawyer

This material is for information only and is not legal advice. UAE law changes — a lawyer will assess how it applies to your situation.