To her hundreds of thousands of followers, the influencer personifies the hallucinatory extravagance of a luxury Dubai lifestyle. Regularly posting pictures of champagne, couture outfits and private jets, peppered with motivational quotes and the occasional bikini shot, she claims to work in the fashion industry.
But to a businessman who introduced himself as a friend of a friend, her real job seems quite different. “Do you pay for presents? 4000 euros. Yes or no,” she replied almost instantly after he sent her a private message on Instagram. “I had 10,000 last night. Do you think you’re so famous and handsome that you get a discount?”
Drawn by winter sun, non-existent income tax, relatively loose pandemic restrictions and easy-to-obtain visas, thousands of influencers have arrived in the past few years, flooding social media with posts extolling the glamorous possibilities of life in the emirate.
They depict
