Sydney dad stranded and facing jail in Dubai after hackers steal his life savings

It was meant to be the holiday of a lifetime but a Sydney dad is instead facing jail time after a suspicious bank transfer kicked off an unbelievable nightmare.

A Sydney dad has been left homeless and is facing jail in a foreign country after hackers stole his life savings.

Daniel Degen, 45, was meant to be taking a break from work in Dubai in November last year but his holiday has since turned into the stuff of nightmares.

A day before he touched down in the UAE capital, a cyber criminal cleared out $13,000 from his life savings, leaving just 58c in his account.

This left him unable to afford a plane ticket out of Dubai.

To make matters worse, the UAE has fined Mr Degen a whopping A$3800 in “overstay” fees, which is when a foreigner “overstays” their welcome after their 30-day visa expires. For every day he remains in Dubai, another AED$100 is added to his penalty – and he cannot leave until the debt is paid.

For the past two months, the Australian citizen claims he has been sleeping in hotel lobbies and scavenging scraps from food trays to survive.

“I have zero funds available and have had zero for months,” the distraught man told news.com.au.

“It’s amazing how things can happen, I’m normally just comfortable and fine, and in nine weeks I’m gone.”

Mr Degen went to the Australian consulate for help, but they advised him to pay off his overstay debts by serving time in jail and then get deported back home.

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Daniel Degen talking to news.com.au at 3am his time while wandering the streets of Dubai with nowhere to sleep.

Mr Degen worked as a FIFO mining project manager in western Africa and he claims the company flew him out to Dubai for his break.

When he first realised his money had been stolen, he notified his bank, who he claims told him it would take just two weeks to recover the cash.

He had around $2000 left in another account and admitted he “wasn’t immediately concerned”.

However, a few weeks later the bank warned him the recovery process could take months.

“By that time I’d put myself up at a hotel and I was eating out,” Mr Degen recalls. “Any available balance I had left on the credit card went fairly quickly.

“I lasted a month on the money I had.”

By this point he didn’t have enough for a plane ticket and so stayed in Dubai beyond the 30 days he was allowed, leading to his visa lapsing and mounting penalties.

He was fined AED$200 for the first day and then AED$100 for every day since.

Unable to return to work because he was still stranded, he claims he was dropped as a project manager and wasn’t able to attend job interviews for other jobs he lined up as they were outside of Dubai.

He believes his email address was compromised which is how hackers got ahold of his banking details.

On November 30 Mr Degen’s world was turned upside down when his life savings was cleaned out by a hacker.

When his remaining money ran out, Mr Degen was left homeless.

“From December 27 to January 4, I supported myself by selling everything on me,” he said.

“I have had to sell the watch I had on me, my phone, laptop, just to get through.

“I have nothing left to me now apart from the clothes I have in a carry-on suitcase.”

When Mr Degen spoke to news.com.au, he claims he had to borrow a phone from someone he had met on Reddit because he didn’t have a mobile of his own.

The former Sydney resident is constantly sleep-deprived, drifting from one hotel lobby to another until he gets moved on.

“Where I don’t get moved on I have a sleep, I wash myself in the amenities and I have a shave,” he explained.

“There’s one hotel where I can get up in the lift without a pass. If there’s a food tray out and there’s leftovers I eat it.”

Dubai is an unusual city which has no homeless people, which means there are no services available Mr Degen can use.

His mental health has also significantly deteriorated but he is unable to access Australian services such as Lifeline while overseas.

The stranded citizen started a GoFundMe page that hasn’t got any traction and has raised only $150 at time of writing.

By the time he does get his $13,000 returned to him by the bank, he will have to lose as much as half of it to pay off the growing debt in overstay fees.

The Sydney dad has been homeless for two months.

Mr Degen says that the Australian consulate in Dubai has not been helpful.

“My biggest issue is the consulate and the service I’ve been afforded, I’ve been left to rot,” he said.

He claims the consulate advised him to serve out the fines in jail and then be deported.

“I would have to go to jail and serve time for the overstay fines, I don’t know how long that is exactly,” he added.

“Foreigners aren’t treated too well, you’re not provided any basic amenities. They provide you with food, but if you want soap or a razor or a clean set of clothes you’re responsible for that.”

His holiday turned into a nightmare.

Mr Degen’s future career as a FIFO worker could also be jeopardised because being deported from the UAE would lead to a lifetime ban.

Dubai is a “central hub” for overseas FIFO workers and a lifetime ban could be a serious deterrent for future employers wanting to hire him.

Overall, the suggestion of deliberately putting himself in jail is “ridiculous”, according to Mr Degen.

The consulate also asked if any family members could send him the necessary funds.

His parents and brother have passed away and his son is 19 and is on study allowance, without a spare $3,800 plus the cost of a plane ticket available.

In a statement, The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was “providing consular assistance to an Australian in Dubai”.

“Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to comment further,” it said.

To help Daniel Degen, you can head to his GoFundMe here.

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Originally published as Sydney dad stranded and facing jail in Dubai after hackers steal his life savings