RIYADH – The Saudi Banks Media and Awareness Committee has launched an initiative that reveals the new methods of financial fraud. The committee said that the initiative, which is under the name of "Not normal", coincides with the emergence of recent groups that aim to benefit financially through exploitation. The groups use technical and social tricks and technical shortcomings, to create innovative fraudulent methods that exploit some clients. The initiative focuses on the most common fraudulent methods, which include: impersonating a bank employee; defrauding through anonymous calls and exploiting people by demanding their banking or personal information; defrauding customers through fake online stores and via phishing. Moreover, the initiative also focuses on fraud by investing in digital currencies with unknown people or companies that promise people large and quick profits. Forms of financial fraud also include emotional fraud, which is being conducted by exploiting people through a friend request via social media sites. The initiative also included the new financial fraud methods such as the fraudsters claiming to be a specialist working from a cybercrime department. They delude customers by stating they are helping them and telling them that they have fallen victim to fraud. Additionally, the fraud method which the fraudsters use to deceive customers is with a job offer with a salary or a daily amount of money, and then sending them a fake link to fill in their data. The committee has warned people to be careful and not answer anonymous calls in which unknown persons ask for their bank details. People must also avoid fraud sources such as fake advertisements, suspicious messages and exaggerated offers. The committee called on customers to protect themselves and their money by dealing with official authorities only in order to avoid being defrauded. It has also noted the importance of preserving personal information and bank data, as well as preserving the verification code and not disclosing it to others. All people must preserve passwords of their bank cards and not disclose it to others, the committee said, warning everyone not to provide banking assistance to strangers and unknowns. It is also necessary to beware of the reliability and credibility of online shopping sites and to ensure that they are informationally secure. The committee also urged all travelers to change the password of their bank cards periodically, especially when returning from their travel abroad. Computers must be protected with virus and malware protection programs. Additionally, among the ways to avoid becoming a victim of fraud, the committee said, people should ignore text messages and emails of unknown origin and delete them immediately. It is also necessary to ignore advertisements, which are issued by illegal funding agencies, that delude people that they are paying off debts and financing projects. The committee urged people to avoid accepting requests for assistance from strangers when using an ATM.
