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Scammers are back and targeting hapless UAE consumers during a time of heightened uncertainty, according to the UAE Central Bank.
The apex bank issued a warning on Tuesday to alert residents of the resurgence of fraudsters making unsolicited calls and emails to gather personal or financial details of bank customers.
“The Central Bank of the UAE alerts consumers of the increase in fraudulent activities,” the regulator said in a statement.
“[Customers are advised] not to disclose private information such as personal and bank account information to any person or entity,” it added.
Phishing attempts, a common way for scammers to obtain valuable information from individuals, including bank account details, have been on the rise since the pandemic begun. Last March, Google said the number of phishing attempts had gone up by 350 percent since the beginning of the lockdown.
There has also been an increasing number of hacking attempts targeting UAE consumers.
The UAE saw 68,063 cyberattacks on smartphones from January to June this year, with an increase during quarantine, according to Internet security expert Kaspersky.
The UAE central bank reminded consumers not to entertain unsolicited phone calls, WhatsApp messages and emails, to protect their personal data.
“[The authority] reminds consumers not to answer such calls and messages, as well as opening any attached links to avoid data exposure to malicious websites,” the central bank said.
“[The public is urged] to report to the relevant authorities when they receive fraudulent calls and messages or in the event of financial fraud,” it added.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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