Eleven Bahrain men charged for smishing fraud

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Eleven men aged between 20 and 40 years are in the dock for allegedly involved in sending fake text messages posing as government employees or official private parties and asking people to pay.

The General Directorate of Anti-corruption and Economic and Electronic Security said the fraudster employed several accounts to transfer the stolen amounts abroad.

The Directors called on the public not to respond to such smishing or SMS phishing, messages where fraudsters steal personal or financial information through deceptive communications.

The practice involves scammers sending a text message to trick a person into turning over sensitive personal information for all sorts of fraud, like siphoning money from their bank account or opening up credit cards in their name. The General Administration said that no officials bodies in the Kingdom would request to disclose personal data.

The Department for Combating Human Trafficking and Protection of Public Morals has its hotline 555 open 24/7 for people to report any issues related to combating these crimes, activating community partnership and ensure speedy response. 992 is the emergency number of the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption & Economic & Electronic Security.