Anti-Economic Crime calls for ignoring anonymous, suspicious calls

Manama, Feb. 3 (BNA): Director-General of Anti-Corruption and Economic and Electronic Security has asserted that the awareness of citizens and residents by not responding to any anonymous or suspicious calls is the main protection from scam and fraud cases. These attempts are managed from outside Bahrain from phone lines that give the impression that they are local calls, he said. He added that when encountering any fraud attempt, the bank should be contacted immediately to stop the account and file a complaint at the Anti-Economic Crimes Directorate by calling the hotline 992. Regarding payment through the “Benefit Pay” app, the company follows accredited and accurate technological procedures. It doesn’t allow its employees to contact clients for the pins of bank cards or accounts. It continuously warns of any scam attempt and requests to report suspicious calls to concerned authorities. He highlighted that those involved in fraud and scam crimes depend on convincing the receiver of winning a prize and then requesting information such as the pin or OPT of data update to use them to access and control his/her bank account. It is important not to respond to such phone calls, SMSs or social media messages and contact the concerned bank through its official phone number to report the incident. He affirmed that no financial organisation requests information or data update from clients via the phone or social media.