Every day
"Sophia" is an example that may be repeated dozens of times!
Sami Al Riyami
reyami@emaratalyoum.comsamialreyami
May 04, 2021
Sophia, a German woman who has lived in Dubai for many years, did not imagine that the call that woke her up from her sleep in the morning would turn into a real nightmare, when she discovers that she was exposed to a professional fraud during which she ended up seizing 45 thousand dirhams, which is literally all she owned From money her father saved for her before his death at the beginning of this year.
The fraudster deluded her that there were changes to her account due to the circumstances of the Corona pandemic, and lured her to disclose her confidential data, after he sent her a text message attributed to Dubai Police, then hacked her account through the phone application, and withdrew the amount within two minutes.
Certainly, "Sophia" made a mistake and now she feels great blame, remorse and heartbreak, but there are tens, or even hundreds, like Sophia, who can be deceived because they simply trust completely the services provided by government agencies, and Sophia confirms that there are several reasons that led to her falling into the trap, including Her account is constantly active and she receives remittances from her clients, so she did not imagine that she would be targeted by these fraudsters, in addition to the fact that the person who spoke to her knew a lot of information about her, so she ruled out being a fraud.
Consequently, very many customers and consumers are vulnerable to falling into the trap, because in the first place they assume that such calls are real, but they are shocked and severely after they fall into the trap, and after they know that the fraudster had made his call from outside the country basically!
Awareness campaigns are many, and banking and police warnings are also numerous, and all warn and focus on not being complacent in preserving the confidentiality of bank data, especially related to credit cards, but on the other hand, electronic fraud gangs are using advanced methods and techniques in hacking operations, so the matter has become complicated, and the bet Consumers ’awareness alone is not enough, as it is necessary to focus more on protection systems, and doubling their procedures, to reduce as much as possible consumers' falling victim to professional fraudsters. It is true that we all agree on the need for cardholders to have some responsibility in preserving the confidentiality of their data. Also, from doubling the responsibility on banks, as they are the most technically and technically capable of finding a solution to these breaches!
According to the new consumer protection system issued by the Central Bank, financial crimes, misuse and misuse of consumer assets, data and information undermine consumers' confidence in financial services, and licensed financial institutions must apply sound and effective administrative and commercial practices in order to provide protection within the first line of defense.
The Central Bank stated that the licensed financial institutions must make efforts, and continuously inject appropriate investments, to control these risks, and they must use the latest technologies and solutions to protect consumer assets and data, and this is precisely what we want to focus on during the coming period to protect clients from fraudsters and swindlers.
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reyami@emaratalyoum.com