The Federation of Emirates Banks, in cooperation with the Central Bank, Abu Dhabi Police and Dubai Police, launched the first national campaign to raise awareness against financial fraud.
A statement issued today stated that organizing the joint campaign comes in light of the increased risks of financial fraud operations and the exploitation of criminals by the "Covid-19" pandemic.


The initiative is expected to continue until the end of the current year, with a focus on each month on multiple topics, such as mobile chip switch fraud, online and mobile phishing, fraudulent lottery messages, magic ink checks, card fraud, e-mail transfer, and privacy data.

Crooks means
The statement expected that the fraud linked to the "Covid-19" pandemic will increase, as the fraudsters exploit people's fears and anxiety during these difficult times, pointing out that the fraud operations target new victims via e-mail, SMS, phone calls and social media, as he claims Scammers are real companies or organizations including government agencies, banks and health care providers, to deceive victims and obtain their personal or financial data.


The central bank urged the public to be vigilant against possible fraudulent activities by using its name, and also warned that there would be an increase in such types of fraud operations during the outbreak of the "Covid-19" pandemic.

Joint campaign
In turn, the Emirates Banking Association announced that it will implement the joint campaign through various traditional media and social media, in cooperation with its "Committee for the Prevention of Fraud" and all its 53 member banks.


Under the slogan "together" against "fraud", the campaign will include a series of educational videos and articles that will raise awareness about how to identify and avoid fraud.
The Emirates Banking Association also launched a mini website to support customers in reporting fraudulent activities.

Banking operations
“As the state continues to fight the epidemic (Covid-19), our efforts are combined to combat fraud and cyber security risks in the banking and financial sector,” said Abdul Hamid Saeed, the central bank’s governor.


He added: "In order to protect the customers, we hurried at the Central Bank to spread awareness about the measures to combat financial fraud, especially since digital banking operations are witnessing a remarkable increase during this period."

A serious threat
For his part, the Chairman of the Emirates Banking Association Board, Abdulaziz Al Ghurair said: “The digital transformation of the banking sector and the widespread application of online solutions have increased the complexity, quality and scale of financial fraud and cybercrime all over the world. This is a serious threat to society that must be addressed, especially in light of these difficult circumstances, as fraudsters exploit the state of fear and uncertainty resulting from the spread of the Corona virus. ”
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Al-Marri: Do not share confidential information
Dubai Police Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al-Marri, called on community members to cooperate with the goals of the national campaign to counter these frauds, by not sharing any confidential information, such as account numbers, bank cards, passwords, personal identification codes, and security codes behind the cards, with the need not to Being behind any phone calls or suspicious messages that might reach them on "SMS" or through social media, pointing out that the sender's number is usually unknown, or an unknown person or email, especially with the spread of the "Corona" pandemic worldwide and interaction Many institutions itchy And Mieh and private companies to activate the system of work remotely.
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Al-Sharifi: 13 gangs of phone monuments
The Director General of Abu Dhabi Police, Major General Maktoum Ali Al Sharifi, said that the Abu Dhabi Police seized 13 gangs of professional phone monuments, the number of whom were accused of 142 during the year 2019 to February this year.
He added, “They were luring people through fraud and fraud as bank employees and asking them to update their bank statements, seize their money, or delude them to win fake prizes.