Dubai Police Arrest Group Over Fake Google Maps Reviews: What a Dubai Business Should Do

Dubai Police have arrested a group accused of posting fake reviews on a company's Google Maps page, according to The National (published 15 October 2026, updated 16 October). If you run a business in Dubai, this is a useful moment to look at your own Google reviews: what to do if you are targeted, and how to make sure your genuine reviews are the first thing customers see.

What Dubai Police said

The National reports that the investigation began after the company filed a complaint. Police found that several commercial shops had formed groups to publish false and damaging comments. The article does not say how many people were arrested.

Maj Yasser Juma Mohammed, head of the Social Media Crimes Section at Dubai Police, said customers may share their experiences but must not harm others, and that an honest negative review is different from comments that amount to insult or defamation.

The laws the article cites

• Article 43 of the UAE Cybercrimes Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021) covers online insults and statements that expose others to punishment or public contempt. The article gives fines of Dh250,000 to Dh500,000, and/or imprisonment.
• Spreading false information: at least one year in prison and a fine of at least Dh100,000, rising to two years and Dh200,000 in an emergency or crisis. The article gives no article number for this.
• A business can also pursue a defamation claim if it can show harm.

Two points from the lawyers quoted: deleting a review does not automatically remove legal liability, because screenshots and platform records can preserve it; and negative reviews are not illegal in the UAE, but the line between criticism and defamation is nuanced. A complaint alone does not establish an offence. This is a summary of a news report, not legal advice.

What a Dubai business can do if reviews look fake

The article offers little direct guidance for businesses, so the steps below are our own practical suggestions, not advice from the police or the lawyers quoted.

• Screenshot everything as soon as you spot a suspicious review: the text, the reviewer name, the date and the star rating. Reviews can be edited or removed.
• Separate the genuine from the suspicious. A harsh review from a real customer deserves a polite, factual reply. Do not treat honest criticism as defamation.
• Never retaliate. Do not post fake reviews about a competitor and do not ask friends or staff to post fake praise. The same article shows how seriously these cases can be taken.
• Use the proper channels. Report the review to the platform, and if you believe it is a coordinated campaign, a complaint to the authorities is what the company in this case did. Speak to a lawyer before any legal step.

The slow, honest defence: more genuine reviews

There is no way to make a profile immune to fake reviews. What a business can control is how many real reviews it has. A handful of unfair one-star comments weigh far more on a profile with 12 reviews than on one with several hundred honest ones. That is reasoning, not a statistic, but it is why a steady flow of real feedback is worth more than any one-off clean-up.

The simplest way to get it is to make the ask easy at the moment the customer is happiest: at the till, the table or the front desk. A tap-to-review card sends the customer straight to your Google review page, with no searching for your business. Make sure you ask every customer the same way, and read Google's current policy on soliciting reviews before training staff.

Two Smaacaad products fit this. The Google Review NFC Card with QR (AED 29 per piece) is a pocketable card for staff to hand over. The Google Review NFC Stand with QR (AED 59 per piece) sits on a counter or table. Both open your Google review link by tap or QR scan. Neither product can stop or remove a fake review; they only make it easier for real customers to leave real ones.

Checklist for this week

• Read your last 20 Google reviews and flag anything that looks coordinated.
• Save screenshots of anything suspicious, with dates.
• Reply politely to every genuine negative review.
• Pick one point in the customer journey where staff will always ask for a review.

Common questions

Are negative reviews illegal in the UAE? According to the lawyer quoted by The National, no, but insults and false statements can be. Should we delete a review we dislike? You cannot delete another person's Google review yourself; you can reply or report it to the platform. Does an NFC card prevent fake reviews? No. It helps you collect genuine ones.