The Security forces have arrested a Saudi gang of 33, including two Yemenis and an Egyptian, who defrauded 63 victims of SR10 million. The criminals posed as bank officials and convinced the victims to give them their ATM and Internet account passwords over the telephone, reported Asharq Arabic daily on Tuesday. The conmen made the victims believe they were bank officials by having their full names, identity numbers, bank account numbers, balance and bank transactions. Once they got the bank account passwords, they transferred the money from the victims' bank accounts to their own accounts via the Internet. Some gang members would convince the victims, while others would do the cash transfers. Riyadh has registered 43 cases of fraud, said Col. Nasser Al-Qahtani, spokesman of Riyadh Police. He told Asharq that the security forces have arrested the criminals and they would soon stand trial. Fahd Al-Otaibi, one of the victims, said someone called him and told him he was a bank official. “He knew my full name, bank account number and a lot of information about me. I told him the bank warned me about providing anyone with my information over the phone. Then he told me that my bank account had been closed. I went straight to an ATM and found, to my surprise, that my account had been suspended. At that moment, I realized he was a bank official.” Al-Otaibi's card was swallowed by the ATM. The criminal called Al-Otaibi again and asked him to go to the bank to get another ATM card. Al-Otaibi went to the bank but the manager was busy and couldn't talk to him. He then received another call from the same man. The man told Al-Otaibi his password. “He knew my password number. Then he told me that I would receive an SMS in a few minutes with my new password and once I got it I should send it to him so that he could update my information. I followed his orders. Then he told me that I would receive a second SMS and I should send that to him too. At that moment I realized the whole thing was a scam.” Al-Otaibi called the bank and asked the official to stop all financial transactions in his name but the bank found that SR99,000 had been transferred from his account to another account. The bank stopped the transaction and put it on hold. The bank asked Al-Otaibi to report the matter to the police and not to talk to the criminal. Muhammad Al-Siwat, another victim, said: “Someone called me, said he was a bank official and asked me to go to the bank to get a VIP card. I went to the bank and I did receive the card. Then a guy named Nasser called and gave me my full bank information, asked me to provide him with my password and go to the bank to pick up a new card. I gave him my password and went to the bank to find that SR170,000 had been withdrawn from my two accounts.” Al-Siwat asked the bank to put the transfer on hold but was told this was not possible. I filed complaints at the bank, police, Riyadh Emirate and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. The bank refused to provide me with a document as proof of the fraud, even though I filed a request several times. The bank kept asking me to go to the police.” Musleh Ghazi Al-Mahmadi, another victim, said: “I was ripped-off by two bank officials in Riyadh, who took SR30,000 from my account. I had gone to the police several times but they asked me not to come again until they identified the thieves. I provided them with information and the thieves were caught and imprisoned. But I have not received the money they stole from my account.” Another victim, Hamdan Othman Al-Kathiri, received an SMS from his bank saying that he did not have any money in his account. When he went to the bank, he found that all the money had been withdrawn from his account. The bank told him he had sold his shares but he denied this. He went again to the bank to file a complaint. He also sent a telegram to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, with copies to the Tabuk Emirate, the police and the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency. He reported the matter to the Capital Market Authority, the Saudi stock market authority, and was given the names of the persons who sold his stock. That was in 2008. Al-Kathiri is still waiting for the return of his money.
