Cairo- A

state of anxiety and fear plagued bank customers in Egypt after the spread of fraud and scams, some of whose victims were unknown, under the pretext of updating their bank data.

The state of anxiety among customers increased during the past two days, after Banque Misr - one of the largest local Egyptian banks - acknowledged the occurrence of fraud operations that cost customers millions of pounds after exchanging text messages with unknown persons.

Following the spread of fraud incidents, Egyptian banks immediately warned against dealing with any call or text message, even if it was from inside the bank, that required revealing the secret numbers or personal data of the customer's account.

Hours after Banque Misr published, on its Facebook page, a warning not to deal with people seeking to obtain their account numbers or bank data, the bank issued video clips to raise awareness not to provide any private or confidential data.

In this context, Banque Misr affirmed its full responsibility for the money of its depositors, and that the interests of its customers are at the top of its priorities and interests, pointing out that it takes all measures to protect depositors’ money in accordance with the regulations and laws regulating this.

Egyptian banks demanded customers not to share the OTP number sent to the personal phone, the activation code for Banque Misr electronic services, or the three-digit CVV2 verification code on the back of the card, or Bank card numbers and expiration dates.

The statements issued by several banks indicated that the warning came out of concern for the interests of its customer base, with an emphasis on following all precautionary rules and measures that would prevent any of its customers from being exposed to any fraud.

victim of fraud

The pioneers of social networking sites circulated a video clip of a woman who said that she was subjected to a fraud of 200,000 pounds ($12,8 thousand) from a person who claimed to be from a customer service of a major local bank, and did not ask her for any data or information about the account, but rather asked to send the code (the code). ) which he will send to her on her mobile phone only in order to update their bank details.

She added that she was surprised with the withdrawal of the aforementioned amount without receiving any message of withdrawing the amount, as is customary when withdrawing any amount, but she held the bank responsible for the fraud due to the failure to send any warning messages from the bank to customers, especially since the bank sent messages to its employees and had knowledge of fraud attempts. precedent.

The woman from southern Egypt revealed that she is not the only case, but there is another case she met while carrying out the procedures for reporting the incident, and it was worth 300,000 pounds (19.2 thousand dollars), and at the same time she complained about the large number of procedures and the slow response to her complaint.

Spreading Anxiety

The incidents of fraud and fraud against customers received the attention of the Egyptian media, and official and private television channels intensified their coverage of the case, and hosted current and former officials to raise awareness of fraud risks.

Regarding the number of incidents, the head of Banque Misr, Mohamed El-Atreby, said, during a telephone interview with a television program, that "this matter was repeated with more than 13 incidents, and 2 million and 700 thousand Egyptian pounds were withdrawn."

Concern spread among the pioneers of social networking sites, and the comments agreed on the need to preserve the confidentiality of data, numbers and personal information, but some of them blamed banks for negligence in preserving the data.

Lawyer Tariq Al-Awadi said that the Egyptian Post leaves the account statements letters at the entrance to the buildings or with the doorman or anywhere nearby, containing all the customer's data.

This was confirmed by one of the clients of one of the largest local banks in Egypt, and he said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net: Indeed, I find the accounts statement letters lying at the entrance to the building, and the postman does not bother to deliver the letter hand in hand or even put it in front of the apartment door.

He added that many times the letter was found torn and opened, and all account data became known to everyone who saw it. "This is disgraceful and shameful and puts my account and the account of all customers of course at risk, and I do not imagine that dealing in the era of numbers technology will continue with postal letters!"

can I understand ??


I mean, which banks send their customers' account statements by mail, and the competent employee leaves them at the entrance to the building, available to the doorman, and who can see them?!

Screwdriver blow to the law of secrecy of accounts

— Tarek Al-Awady, Lawyer (@tarekelawady2) August 22, 2021

My father just received a call from a person claiming to be from the Central Bank on the pretext of "updating the data"!

(He does not have accounts in Banque Misr)

Does this mean that, after all the fuss since yesterday, attempts to penetrate are still continuing?

Does it include banks other than Banque Misr?

— Nael (@Nael_Shama) August 22, 2021

#Banks #Warning ⛔


After the Bank of Egypt.. Al-Ahly Bank warns its customers of fraud and scams

— 🏖️ Alexandria (@Alexandria_egy1) August 22, 2021

Banque Misr warns its customers of fraud https://t.co/G3pylzVngg# Bank_Misr #Banks_Egypt pic.twitter.com/TeKDALxjjz

- Banks of Egypt (@febgate) August 21, 2021

■ In Egypt there are hundreds of thousands of bank accounts in hundreds of operating banks... A customer's account is hacked and banks' warnings to their customers against falling into the trap of swindlers found in all banks of the world... It is never permissible for this matter to shake confidence in the banking system... Be careful and do not listen to terrorist channels publish news

— ENTESAR NASSAR 🇪🇬 (@EntsarNassar) August 21, 2021

The “Post” for “pensioners” be careful and do not disclose your account data to anyone. The


warning from Egypt Post comes hours after a similar warning to several Egyptian banks, led by Banque Misr and the National Bank of Egypt, that some customers were subjected to fraud and seizure of their bank balances # Students_Egypt_Al-Amal_Fi_Tahrir pic.twitter.com/noGccnpYXz

- Shahira Taher (@shahenaz_taher) August 21, 2021

The fraud process that got the clients of Banque Misr, this one, did not come from the inside of the bank,


where did they get the data of the clients and their accounts with their phone numbers, other than if

someone from inside the

bank?!

— MR_Teto (@TetoTm00) August 21, 2021