two leading banks targeted by fraudsters
DOHA - Senior officials from two leading banks here admitted hackers have fraudulently siphoned customers' money by accessing their accounts using Automated Teller Machines (ATM).
"We have sent out text messages to certain customers whose accounts have been hit to change their PIN. The fraudsters have copied PIN codes and withdrawn cash," said Abdul Rahman Al Zaid, in-charge of corporate banking at Qatar Islamic Bank.
Abdul Rahman Al Meer of Doha Bank said their bank had also been exposed to small amounts being taken out of accounts. "All banks are liable to be exposed. The problem is banks only know about it happening after the money has been withdrawn," he said.
HSBC, too, has asked its customers via a text message sent out yesterday not to use its ATMs overseas until the bank is sure all customers are safe from possible stealing of Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) codes and subsequent fraudulent transactions.
An HSBC spokesperson said yesterday: "Ours is not a unique case and it is a problem related to all banks. All HSBC is doing is protecting its customers so we are restricting them from making withdrawals at our cash machines abroad."
The spokessperson said: "Obviously some people are very clever in front of technology," referring to fraudsters accessing people's accounts using the ATMs. The matter is expected to be dealt with by the bank's global headquarters.
HSBC had run into problems in the UAE early last month which resulted in HSBC's Regional Head of Security issuing an alert on local accounts coming under attack from counterfeit card usage overseas. The problem appears to be especially acute in the UAE while HSBC Qatar has taken the latest steps as a precautionary measure.
While banks in general here have stated there is no problem with their customers' accounts being compromised, it appears there is indeed a situation which is developing.
One Arabic language daily here reported yesterday Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has formed a committee to solve the problem of accounts being hacked into.
"The committee has been formed to solve this problem and to check on accounts which may have been compromised. This is being done to ensure there is no repetition of such incidents happening," said Al Zaid. He emphasised the amounts siphoned out of accounts have been very small. But it is a problem nevertheless.
© The Peninsula 2008
