The Economic and Cyber Crimes Combating Section at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has busted a gang that’s involved in electronic financial fraud.
According to a Tweet by the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the gang was active in money laundering by getting bank details from the victims. The theft resulted in losing of QR 10 mn from various accounts. The Tweet said that the arrest was made after the department received complaints about the financial fraud.
Financial and Cyber Crimes Prevention Section director said that department received reports indicating exposure to electronic fraud and money theft crimes after victims received a text message on their mobile phones. The messages said that the bank card has been suspended or won a large financial prize and urged them to call a certain number.
“After the call, the criminals asked the victims to pass the one time password (OTP) that was received in the mobile phone saying the prize will be easily handed over after giving the OTP, the criminals got access to the bank accounts and the money from the victims’ accounts were used to transfer to accounts abroad or hold purchase or pay bills,” the MoI official said.
The gang was seized during a special operation after getting permission from the Public Prosecutor.
MoI has appealed the public to keep vigil, take precautions and not to hold any kind of deal with fraudsters who are engaged in fraudulent activities. The authorities have asked to vhange the passwords periodically and choose a password more difficult to guess and do not respond to messages or open the attached links before checking their source. Victims in such cases can communicate directly with Ec
