Chowrangi

ATM and Credit Card frauds are on rise in UAE. Customers, of various banks in UAE, are complaining of cards being copied/hacked at ATM kiosks and used for transactions worth thousands of Dirhams.

Gulf News report incidents where customers have lost thousands of Dirhams in ATM Card fraud. While some of them have been reimbursed by their banks, others still wait for an action.

Citibank, HSBC, Emirates NBD, Dubai Islamic Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Lloyds TSB Middle East and Mashreq Bank are among those affected or see a potential threat that could affect their operations.

Both MasterCard and Visa issued statements saying that they are cooperating with the law enforcement authorities and the banking industry on the latest breaches. Almost all banks have sent alerts via SMS to their customers to change their PINs and in some cases asking them to remain vigilant by checking their balances every few days.

Dubai Bank, a Dubai Group company, said in a statement that 42 of their customers had been affected, and the claims will be refunded shortly. Ala’a Eraiqat, ADCB deputy chief executive, said thhe total amount could become higher but it is much less than Dh100,000 so far.

However, the banks and government officials are downplaying the severity of issue as usual, so that it may not threaten the expats to stop their bank dealings.

“The magnitude of the problem is not so big,” said Abdullah Qasim, chairman of Network International, a subsidiary of Emirates NBD.

HSBC has instructed its customers via SMS to change their PIN numbers at any of its ATMs. While Lloyds TSB Middle East advised customers to remain vigilant and to contact their bank if they notice anything unusual about an ATM which could indicate a card reader or camera has been fixed.

Mashreq Bank also updated its web site with a Security Alert, requesting customers to be cautious and keep their Emails, Mobile Phones and ATM Cards secure.

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