What UAE princes have been imitated in romance scams?
Executive summary
Scammers most frequently impersonate the Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum — widely known as “Fazza” — in romance and confidence schemes, using his name and image to lend credibility to fraudulent stories and money requests [1] [2]. Reporting from victim-support sites, fraud-advice pages and investigative NGOs consistently points to “the Crown Prince of Dubai” as the single most common royal persona used; the available sources do not reliably identify other named UAE princes being repeatedly imitated [3] [4].
1. The figure behind the fraud: “Prince Hamdan / Fazza” as the headline impersonation
Victim reports, scam forums and local press explicitly name Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum — popularly called Fazza — as the frequent persona scammers adopt on social platforms, dating apps and messaging services to start romantic contact and then solicit money or favours [1] [2]. Community sites that help scam survivors catalogue numerous threads and examples in which the impostor presents himself as the Crown Prince, using flattering photos and royal titles to lower victims’ guard and demand payments, often for elaborate fabricated reasons [2] [5].
2. How the “Crown Prince” ruse is played out in romance formats
The scams commonly take a familiar shape: an online flirtation graduates to a confession of love or crisis, then a request for urgent funds — for example to pay lawyers, fines, a “royal ID” or travel paperwork — with the royal identity used to justify secrecy and special treatment [6] [4]. One reported case involved a fake “Prince Hamdan” asking a target to pay for a special royal ID that would supposedly enable travel to meet the victim, illustrating how royal branding is grafted onto existing romance-scam scripts [6].
3. Platforms, methods and victim-facing evidence cited by reporting
Investigative NGOs and action-fraud guidance highlight Instagram, dating apps and messaging services (e.g., WhatsApp, Hangouts) as the initial contact conduits, with scammers then sending forged documents, bank statements or “police reports” to appear authentic [6] [3]. Forums for survivors and independent campaigns document multiple incidents where the faux-Crown Prince narrative appears across different victim demographics — including heterosexual and LGBTQ+ targets — with some impostors invoking Dubai’s criminal laws to insist on secrecy when courting queer users [5] [2].
4. Who is reporting this and what might shape the narrative
Most of the named reporting comes from victim-support organisations (Detained in Dubai, ScamSurvivors), consumer-fraud pages (Action Fraud UK) and local news commentary, which have an explicit agenda to warn and assist potential victims and to press for law-enforcement attention; these actors emphasise patterns and survivor testimony but do not provide prosecutorial data linking impersonations to specific, provable ring leaders [4] [3]. That advocacy angle can lead reporting to spotlight the most sensational impersonations — the Crown Prince — because it strongly illustrates how scammers exploit prestige and trust, but it also means coverage may focus on names that resonate with potential victims.
5. Limits of available reporting: what is not proven in these sources
The assembled sources repeatedly reference “the Crown Prince” and name Sheikh Hamdan specifically, but they do not compile a verified list of other UAE princes who are repeatedly impersonated in romance scams; claims that “other princes” are used are not substantiated with named, corroborated examples in the provided reporting [4] [7]. Law-enforcement case files, official UAE responses or investigative journalism exposing organised rings and their exact choice of royal personas are not present in the cited material, so any claim beyond the Crown Prince being a frequent target would exceed what these sources document [3] [4].
6. Bottom line: who to watch for in scam impersonations — and the practical reading
Available, consistent reporting identifies Sheikh Hamdan (the Crown Prince of Dubai, known as Fazza) as the principal UAE royal figure imitated in romance scams and shows how that persona is used to manufacture trust and demand money; survivor forums and fraud-advice sites corroborate recurring patterns and victim experiences but stop short of naming other specific, repeatedly impersonated UAE princes in the material at hand [1] [2] [3]. For those tracking or researching these scams, the strongest, evidence-backed conclusion is that the Crown Prince persona is the primary royal identity exploited in romance-scam narratives — and the broader claim that multiple named UAE princes are regularly imitated is not supported by the provided sources.