Saudi police recover $160k from bank scammer

Saudi police recover $160k from bank scammer

Man stole more than half a million riyals from victim’s account.

April 3, 2010 7:49 by kippreport

Police have foiled a scheme where a man posing as a bank employee fraudulently obtained an unknowing victim’s bank account information and stole more than half a million riyals from his account.

The 57-year-old scammer called the victim and asked him for his bank account information. The man obliged without realizing the whole thing was a scam. Jeddah police said the scammer used the information to transfer SR600,000 ($160,000) into another bank account.

“The victim noticed the missing cash when he went to withdraw cash from an ATM,” said police spokesperson Col. Misfar Al-Juaid. Police traced the bank transfer and eventually arrested the scammer.

The incident has led to calls for a system to protect people’s financial details from fraud.

Al-Juaid warned against giving out bank account information over the telephone.

“People need to be cautious when they receive phone calls asking for their bank details, so they won’t fall victim to fraud crimes,” he said.

Electronic fraud in the Kingdom has been on the rise in recent years. A highly reported case in the media involved Abdul Aziz Al-Johani, who started life as a security guard to become a billionaire from masterminding an elaborate scam involving Sawa cards. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and 1,000 lashes and was also asked to reimburse investors who had been conned.

- Arab News