In accordance with the directives of the Central Bank of Kuwait and based on the keenness of the Kuwait Banking Association and Kuwaiti banks to protect bank customers and preserve their assets and properties, the Association and Kuwaiti banks, in cooperation with the relevant authorities, established a central virtual room to receive customer reports and deal with them with the required efficiency and speed. The room began its operations in December 2023, according to clear and specific procedures that were established in agreement between all concerned parties to ensure ease and speed of cooperation and coordination between them around the clock.
In this context, Deputy Secretary-General of the Kuwait Banking Association, Sheikha Al-Essa, stated that the central room is a vital tool for monitoring electronic fraud operations, as it contributes to implementing effective precautionary measures to ensure that these operations are not repeated. Al-Essa added that the goal of establishing the central room is to enhance coordination between the banking sector and official bodies to combat electronic financial fraud, which contributes to providing a safe environment for customers.
She also explained that both the Kuwait Banking Association and Kuwaiti banks have taken a set of measures to combat fraud, including the formation of a specialized team to study all aspects of fraud operations, including the target groups and methods used. The work of this team aims to raise customer awareness by studying financial fraud operations and publishing awareness content across various social media platforms to raise awareness of the latest methods and techniques of electronic financial fraud and how to confront it.
Al-Essa stressed the importance of enhancing community awareness about fraud methods, saying: “Customers’ knowledge of the methods used by fraudsters enhances their ability to act wisely, which reduces their chances of being exposed to fraud operations.”
For her part, the head of the Anti-Fraud Committee at the Kuwait Banking Association, Sheikha Al-Safi, confirmed that the establishment of the virtual central room also came in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice with the aim of reducing cases of electronic fraud, as through this room, suspicious accounts are monitored and restricted, funds are tracked and seized, in addition to ongoing awareness efforts to contribute to eliminating electronic fraud operations.
Al-Safi stated that the most prominent fraud cases that the Central Chamber dealt with are fake advertisements that impersonate official companies selling mobile phones, where they advertise the sale of modern mobile phones on an installment basis, or advertisements for recruiting domestic workers and others for renting chalets and apartments at very attractive prices, and the fraudster sends a payment link to the victim and then blocks his number after receiving the amount.
Al-Safi stressed the need for customers to deal with trusted official companies and accounts and use the official application for each of these companies and avoid suspicious advertisements on social media or search engines, and not to share the verification code (OTP) with any party at all, and to read the content of the verification code message carefully in terms of the amount, currency and merchant name.
Al-Safi also pointed out another form of electronic financial fraud, which is impersonating some entertainment television platforms and sending emails to renew the subscription and request updating payment data, so the customer updates the payment data for his bank card and adds the verification code (OTP) without referring to the message itself to verify its data, which does not match the expected payment process.
She also stressed that when paying through bank links, the web page address (URL) must be verified to ensure that it is the bank’s website and then the KNet page.
Al-Safi concluded by calling on bank customers to be cautious and careful, and to follow the messages of the banking awareness campaign “Let’s be aware” and the materials published by banks, through which customers can learn about the most important ways to avoid exposure to fraud and all new developments in this regard, while stressing the importance of not disclosing confidential personal and banking data.
