Dubai gold shops told to be vigilant of fake inspectors

A group of unscrupulous people is targeting gold and jewllery shops in Dubai, pretending to be inspectors and issuing fake reports against fee.

Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group (DGJG), an umbrella body of more than 1,000 gold and jewellery shops in Dubai, sent out a notification to alert its members.

The notification has warned them about the unscrupulous people pretending to be legal verifiers of Dubai Municipality and visit the shops to issue fake verification of electronic balances and charge a certain amount of fee from shopkeepers.

“Please be informed that recently, there are reportedly unscrupulous people who are pretending to be Legal Verifiers from Dubai Municipality and doing verifications of electronic balances in the shops. Moreover, they are issuing fake reports and collecting verification charges in cash,” reads DGJG notification sent to its members.

The umbrella body advised gold and jewellery shops owners and employees to remain vigilant and report any suspicious character doing these acts.

Legal Verifiers of Dubai Municipality always wear identification card and will present a copy of regulation with REF: 002047 signed by the Head of Metrology Labs Section-Dubai Central Laboratory Department.

“For first time verification, staff will ask for the copy of your trade licence and put barcode sticker on the electronic balances,” said DGJG notification sent out on Thursday evening.

But if the electronic balance is unfit for use for not meeting the accuracy or readability requirements, the Legal Verifier will put ‘Rejected’ sticker to the balance and will ask shop representative to remove it from the shop.

Verification charge for electronic scale cost Dh300 each for up to 10kg and Dh500 each for above 10kg. Green colour sticker is issued when the scale passes the test while red colour sticker is placed on the scale for failure result.

According to DGJG, only five personnel are authorized to carry out legal verification of electronic balances in Dubai. They are Ariel Reyes Garcia, ID No. 14420; Shivam Chaturvedi, ID No. 24512; Naeem Chandroth, ID No.24508; Bassam Mostafa Hager, ID No. 24214; and Abdulla Essa, ID No. 13683.

Known as the City of Gold, Dubai contributes a lion’s share towards gold and jewellery sales in the UAE and regionally.

According to World Gold Council, consumer demand lost sheen in the UAE in the first quarter of 2016, falling 14 per cent to 16.5 tonnes. Jewellery demand dropped 14 per cent to 14 tonnes while bar and coin demand saw a decline of 15 per cent to 2.5 tonnes.

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