Real-life fraud cases to learn from: Part 1

With the recent rise in financial fraud cases, it's essential to know how to keep your bank information safe to avoid falling victim to fraud.

Scammers may be clever, but you must be more clever. This article will share some real-life fraud cases to help you spot and stop a scam before it happens.  

But first, how does fraud happen?

Fraud occurs when a scammer obtains information related to your bank account or card in one way or another to make unauthorised transactions or transfer money from your account to theirs.

How do scammers convince their victims to disclose their bank information? 

Here are just a few examples: 

Case 1: Hello...congratulations, you've won 9,999 JOD

Sami is a 29-year-old who plans to marry his childhood love soon. A few months ago, Sami got a call from someone claiming to be a Bank al Etihad employee. The so-called employee said, "Congratulations Sami! You've won 9,999 JOD!" and asked him for his bank details to transfer the amount. 

Sami was happy beyond words - he could finally afford the wedding! But his happiness was quickly replaced with confusion when he received a text message from the bank telling him that 1,200 JOD had been withdrawn from his account. 

When Sami contacted the bank, it became clear that he hadn’t won 9,999 JOD and that the call he got was, in fact, a ploy to steal his money. "If only I had checked with the bank before giving out my details to a scammer," Sami says.  

What did Sami learn from this? Not to share his bank information with anyone claiming to be a bank employee, as they would never ask for his bank details over the phone.

By the way, if you're planning to get married like Sami, here are 7 tips for planning a wedding on a budget.

Case 2: Attention...your account will be closed

Marwan is a 52-year-old businessman who, while on a business trip to Ireland last year, received a message on Facebook from an account impersonating Bank al Etihad. The impersonator told him that he needed to provide the bank with his updated information so they could keep his account open.

Marwan didn't think to check whether his account was actually threatened with closure, and  gave all his details to the scammer. 30 minutes later, Marwan's account balance was zero. 

The scammer didn't even leave him any money for a return ticket to Amman! 

When we spoke with Marwan, he told us that the scammer talked exactly how a Bank al Etihad employee would and asked him the security questions that bank employees ask, such as what his last transaction was and what his account balance was.

Of course, upon hearing this, we told Marwan that our official social media accounts are verified with a blue tick and that the bank would never ask him to share his details on social media.     

And don't worry about Marwan! He returned to Amman and made double what he lost last year as he focused on his business and left the task of managing his company's finances to the Etihad for Business platform, which provides streamlined banking services to businesses.

Case 3: Participate and win! 

Manar is a 30-year-old jewellery designer who turned her hobby of making jewellery into a profitable business. Another one of her hobbies is participating in competitions. So, when she saw an online post by Bank al Etihad announcing a contest with a 20,000 JOD cash prize, she got very excited. 

But what Manar didn't know was that the account was fake and was impersonating Bank al Etihad to defraud its customers. To participate in the competition, the scammer asked Manar to share her bank card information on the page for a chance to win the prize, then asked her to share the one-time password (OTP) that she would receive shortly by text message.

Can you guess what happened after?

Manar shared all the required information, and the scammer was able to make an online purchase worth 600 JOD!

Although she lost some of her earnings that month, Manar learned that the OTP is a code that authorises the withdrawal of an amount from her account and that she should never share it with anyone. 

Don't want to fall into the same trap that Manar fell into? Here are 8 tips to protect yourself from credit card fraud.

The lesson to learn from these cases

There are phone numbers and pages on social media that use the Bank al Etihad name to defraud our customers. But with vigilance, you can avoid falling victim to these scams. 

Don't share information related to your bank account or card with anyone, and know that we would never request this information through a phone call or social media.