Thieves broke into a woman's house in Ajman and "cleared it out", taking belongings ranging from Christmas decorations and wrapped gifts to half-used lotions.
Becky Mason, 35, estimates the burglars took around Dh70,000 of her personal belongings in the raid.
The teacher left her house in Ajman's Al Yasmeen area in the evening of the robbery at around 7.30pm.
She returned the following day around lunchtime and was shocked to discover her house had been ransacked.
“I don’t know what to say, I am totally shocked,” said Ms Mason, from the UK.
“They took private documents, banking documents, the PlayStation, the children’s gifts, the tree decorations, which I had only just taken out of the cupboard the day before.
“They took all the perfumes, jewellery, watches, the gifts that were wrapped up ready to go to England, my make-up.”
They tried to take the TV too, but could not get it off the wall, she said.
“They had a real good go to take everything. Half-used lotions and potions, perfumes,” said Ms Mason, who locked up her house before leaving for the night.
“And just imagine, they even took the router. The police asked me to WhatsApp the location and I kept trying to send the location and it wouldn’t go. I had full WiFi so I couldn’t understand it.
"I had to stay at a friend's to continue my work as a teacher."
Break-ins are rare across the UAE.
Many people feel so safe they do not even lock their doors at night. However, they can happen.
This year, police in Dubai said a hi-tech home security service alerting police to crimes as they happen in the emirate helped slash burglary rates.
The force said the number of home burglaries was cut by two per cent in 2018 during a trial phase, but incidents were reduced by a further 13 per cent in 2019 following a wider roll-out.
The sophisticated system links security cameras and motion sensors placed in homes with the force's control room, allowing officers to take swift action when intruders strike.
Ms Mason said there has been no news from the investigation into the burglary of her home yet.
She feels confident in Ajman Police’s ability to solve the crime, but posted about the ordeal on social media, including Facebook groups like British Mums Dubai, in case the thieves sell her items together.
“I thought if anyone suddenly sells a lot of things, [and there is] anything I could screenshot and send to the police, it would be worth it,” she said.
Ms Mason bought and moved into the new home in 2017 to be closer to work.
But she had just agreed to rent it out to a couple so she could move in with a friend in Sharjah, where she works.
On the day of the burglary she had been packing her belongings. She is no longer sure the couple will want to live in the house after what happened.
“Now I’m in the situation where I have this huge debt and I can’t even sleep there because I don’t feel safe there. I feel totally petrified to live there now.”
Ajman Police were contacted for comment.
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SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
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