UAE warns residents not to get carried away by fake calls and messages seeking bank details

Mohammed Yaseen, Staff Reporter

The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation (MOHRE) has warned everyone of a fake message sent through digital and electronic channels with the official logo of MOHRE and other government bodies, through which anonymous persons request personal data from people so that their bank accounts could be compromised or closed.

The MOHRE tweeted through its official account on Twitter: “A fake message sent through digital and electronic channels, including the official logo of the Ministry and other government bodies was monitored, where senders claim to freeze bank accounts unless they are provided with customer data.”

MOHRE added, “The Ministry calls upon all not to respond to this message, to ignore it if it is received, and to communicate instantly with the concerned security authorities to report it.”

Earlier this month, courier companies have warned customers of e-frauds.

In time of great popularity of e-commerce, ordering, purchasing and delivery via the Internet, a new method of fraud has recently spread, by sending a fake email impersonating a well-known delivery company, requesting the victim’s bank data to pay fees which are only a few dirhams.

In this regard, famous delivery companies such as “Emirates Post” warned their customers of these frauds and asked them to be careful and ensure through various channels and applications the processing of their shipments or to call approved call centres. It also advised them to use its official website / Emiratespost.ae/ and the mobile application when making an order and when they pay electronically.

“Aramex”, the well-known delivery company, indicated that fraudulent e-mails are the most common fraud methods on the web, as fraudsters deceive the public by sending an e-mail which seems as if sent by it and the sender requests personal sensitive information or bank account data.

These may also request the person to register in competition to win a prize. FedEx, another well known delivery company said that it never requests, through calls, mail, text messages, or emails, payment information or personal information to deliver shipments.

Kaspersky anti-virus company explained that deception starts with receiving an email, which appears to be from a famous delivery company, but in fact it is sent from random email addresses that have nothing to do with any of the official email addresses of the postal services.

Abu Dhabi Police (ADP) warned, earlier, of fraud methods through fake messages from freight delivery companies via e-mail or a text message. ADP asked the public not to click on links in emails or small messages, without checking them carefully.

They also advise to carefully read messages and verifying their source, check email addresses which are sometimes similar to the original email addresses of delivery companies.

The public are also advised to find the letters HTTPS in the address of the site which sent the mail, avoid providing bank data via the WhatsApp, read the One Password messages (OTP) sent by the bank carefully and avoid clicking on online promotions and social media sites.