How do scammers use fake Sheikh Hamdan profiles on Instagram?
Executive summary
Scammers replicate Sheikh Hamdan’s identity on Instagram and other platforms by stealing official photos and creating dozens or hundreds of look‑alike accounts, then use romance, fake jobs, giveaways and bogus investment or “royal membership” schemes to extract money or data from victims [1] [2] [3]. Fact‑checking outlets and victims’ petitions document a global, long‑running “Fazza” impersonation racket that exploits platform gaps and user trust in the Crown Prince’s verified social presence [4] [5] [6].
1. How fake Sheikh Hamdan profiles are constructed and proliferate
Scammers harvest images and videos from the real Sheikh Hamdan’s public Instagram, clone his name or variants, and spin up unverified Instagram/Facebook accounts that mimic his profile and post history; victims and monitoring groups say there are hundreds of such accounts circulating worldwide [2] [3] [7]. Investigations and fact‑checks show many impostor pages are newly created, unverified and deliberately positioned near the official verified account to deceive casual users [6].
2. The playbook: romance, giveaways, jobs and “royal” perks
The impersonators use several proven scripts: romantic approaches that profess love and then request money for visas, permits or “royal ID” cards; fake charitable or pandemic relief giveaways asking users to click links or comment to claim cash; bogus job offers targeting migrants; and investment pitches promising implausible returns — all falsely attributed to the Crown Prince [8] [4] [9] [1] [6].
3. Platforms and channels: Instagram plus Telegram, LinkedIn and advert‑laden claim sites
Targets are often first contacted on Instagram but are then funneled to messaging apps like Telegram, to email or to LinkedIn outreach where scammers can isolate victims and push external sites; AFP’s fact‑check found giveaway links leading to ad‑filled webpages rather than any legitimate charity portal [10] [11] [4].
4. How the fraud converts into money and harm
Monetization methods include up‑front “fees” for fictitious royal memberships or ID documents, payments to process fake investments or shipments (parcel duty scams), fabricated donation requests, and long con romance extortion — victims report losing significant sums and having personal data reused for further crimes [1] [5] [8]. Community complaint threads and petitions also warn of follow‑on blackmail using compromising material obtained during the scam [5] [3].
5. Scale, geography and the actors behind the scams
Reporting and victim testimony describe a transnational operation with scammers based in multiple countries who target the Crown Prince’s large global fanbase; journalists and law‑enforcement appeals cite perpetrators operating from Pakistan, Turkey, the Philippines and elsewhere, exploiting the prince’s huge following to harvest victims from many nations [1] [5].
6. What authorities and fact‑checkers say about legitimacy and responsibility
Fact‑checkers have repeatedly confirmed that purported giveaways and investment offers on impersonator pages are fraudulent and not reflected on the verified royal accounts; AFP and Africa Check located no legitimate promotions on the Crown Prince’s official pages and warn links lead to scammy ad sites [4] [6] [9]. Victims and campaigners argue platforms (Meta) should remove fakes faster and cooperate with police, while some point to gaps in cross‑border enforcement as a structural problem [1] [5].
7. Limits of available reporting and competing narratives
Coverage documents many tactics and victims but cannot trace every account to its operator or prove that all fake pages originate outside the UAE; petitions and campaigners press for stronger action and sometimes frame platform inaction as deliberate negligence, an assertion supported by repeated persistence of fakes but not proven in the public record [7] [5]. Official UAE law and penalties for fraud are cited in media stories but public prosecutions tied to specific impersonators are not exhaustively detailed in the sources provided [2].
8. Practical signals that an account is a scam and next steps for users
Verified badges, the absence of giveaways on the official account, newly created/unverified profiles, requests to move conversations off‑platform, demands for fees or private documents, and links to advert‑driven claim pages are consistent red flags noted by fact‑checkers and watchdogs; victims are urged to report impostors to platform abuse channels and local authorities and to consult fact‑check pages that catalogue known fake accounts [4] [9] [6].