In Kuwait And Gulf Countries, Beware Of Electronic Fraudsters

Due to the difficulty of proving the crime technically, electronic fraud is on the rise in Kuwait and the Gulf countries in general. It is exacerbated by lapses committed by targeted users through chat programs, social networking sites, messages, or even electronic games or fake pages.

Sophisticated methods of fraud have spread, the latest of which is falsifying logos of companies or stores, to entrap customers in the purchase, payment and money transfer window, without the real presence of products or the delivery component, which has made many people who depend on e-shopping and direct purchase, through smart applications or websites, which have become uncomfortable at international level, reports a local Arabic daily.

The Public Prosecution every year deals with at least 350 cases of electronic fraud filed by individuals who have been misled by Kuwaiti phone numbers using communication applications WhatsApp or IMO, or by sending links via text messages, using logos or names of government agencies.

The head of the Kuwait Society for Information Security, Dr. Safaa Zaman, told the daily that Kuwait ranks fourth in the list of fraud cases registered in the Middle East and North African countries, and residents are among the most likely victims of electronic fraud.

Dr Zaman said that a recent study prepared by the Naif Arab University for Security Sciences in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in cooperation with the International Criminal Company “Interpol”, under the title “The Role of Financial Institutions in Reducing Information Crimes” at the beginning of this year, showed the presence of 5 types of financial fraud crimes, considered the most common in the Arab world, and uses 24 criminal methods to reach the victims.

She added, the study analyzed 503 fraudulent ads, topped by 4 methods in the areas of “investments, business email, romantic text message fraud, in addition to the method of sexual extortion.”

With regard to fraud methods that were monitored at the local level, Zaman said that they “diverse and evolved, with the development of technical eras, and increased with the prosperity and spread of social networking programs, based on the richness of these programs with data and personal information, which facilitated penetration operations in general, and fraud in particular.” .

Dr Zaman continued saying, one of the most important requirements for financial fraud is the presence of adequate data and information about the victim, which is provided by social networking programs. Unfortunately, users do not realize the importance of the data and information placed in these programs and their uses that may expose them to theft and extortion through the use of social engineering.

She pointed out that “the spread of a new method recently, in which the fraudster convinces the victim to download an application that enables him to control his device remotely, and when the victim downloads the application, the fraudster gains full control of his device and then transfers money and steals files and data without hindrance or approval from the victim.”

Dr Zaman provided a set of tips for individuals, so that they can make optimal use of the current technological tools of the virtual world, to avoid falling into scams, by “not trusting the link or social networking accounts and making sure that no one wants to give you money easily and without fatigue, and not to place sensitive data in the phone, using a prepaid card to complete electronic purchases, not sharing credit data with anyone even if the merchant or representative asks you, and not entering your personal data into public devices or connecting to unreliable networks.

She called for caution against dealing with websites with poor design and content, and immediately reporting any fraud or attempt to mislead you, so that the bank can take the necessary measures, educate other customers, and constantly update the operating system.

The 10 most common methods of electronic fraud in the modern era

- Sending links that take the victim to sites containing malicious software
- Links whose mission is to seize the secret number of bank accounts
- Contact the victim by phone and take data, the most important of which is (OTP)
- Software that hides caller numbers and shows the number of the bank or financial institution
- Fake websites bearing the name and logo of the bank or financial institution
- Online stores displaying fake, counterfeit and non-genuine goods
- False bank letters by email or text message
- Granting loans on easy terms or repaying loans without reasonable conditions
- Pay off loans in exchange for your signature on documents by paying larger amounts
- Cameras in automated teller machines that reproduce cards and their information The Latest and important news on our Telegram Channel click here to join 

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