With penalties of up to Dhs500,000 and three years in prison…

Giving money to a good cause is more often than not a purely positive experience, however, the UAE government has reiterated to the public that unverified charities may have nefarious ends, particularly online.

Fines of up to Dhs500,000 can be handed out, with offenders facing up to three years in prison for anyone caught running an unverified charity via social media sites.

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The UAE Attorney General, Dr Hamid Al Shamsi, implored residents to be wary of whom they donate money to via sites like Facebook and Whatsapp as they may lead back to terrorist organisations, asking that they instead stick with government-sanctioned charities.

“The phenomenon harms the UAE whose humanitarian organisations set a good example of humanitarian and charitable work through legal channels,” said Al Shamsi.

For more information on the laws in the UAE regarding charities and which organisations you can reach out to if you want to help, check out our UAE Charity primer.

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