UAE central bank leads drive to combat fraud, cybercrime
dubai — The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), UAE Banks Federation (UBF), Abu Dhabi Police, and Dubai Police have joined forces to launch the first national fraud awareness campaign to educate and protect consumers from financial cybercrime and fraud, particularly in light of the increased use of digital banking services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Abdulhamid Saeed, Governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, said the fraud awareness campaign, underscored by a series of interactive and educational materials, is aimed at “informing consumers about the proliferation of phishing activities” while enabling them to stay alert.
As a nation, we continue our fight against Covid-19 and that includes combating fraud and cyber security risks in the banking and financial system. As digital banking transactions are witnessing a significant spike during this time, we at Central Bank of the UAE have been quick to deploy robust fraud prevention measures to protect consumers,” said the CBUAE chief.
AbdulAziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UAE Banks Federation, said the banking sector’s digital transformation and widespread implementation of online solutions has increased both the complexity and magnitude of financial fraud and cybercrime across the globe. “This is a serious threat to society that must be addressed, particularly under these challenging circumstances where fraudsters are taking advantage of the fear and uncertainty created by the Covid-19 outbreak.”
Al Ghurair said with the launch of this joint campaign UBF seeks not only to equip the public with the knowledge and resources they need to protect themselves from fraud, but also disrupt the criminal networks that are targeting UAE residents.
In the UAE, there was a year-on-year increase of 18.2 per cent in fraud cases in 2018 in line with a similar surge in cases of fraud worldwide as digital solutions continue to disrupt the banking industry and fraudsters becoming increasingly sophisticated. In 2019, fraud cases in the UAE increased.
According to a study, the damages caused by cybercrime are poised to double amid the Coronavirus outbreak. The Official Cybercrime Report published by Cybersecurity Ventures says cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021, up from $3 trillion in 2015. The trend also represents one of the biggest transfers of economic wealth in history.
Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Lieutenant General of Dubai Police, encouraged all UAE residents to remain vigilant during these uncertain times, and exercise extra caution when sharing any confidential information. “These include account numbers, bank card numbers, passwords, personal identification codes and security codes behind cards, with the need not to be deceived by fraudulent phone calls and messages that may target customers via SMS or social media.”