Bahraini man loses BD3000 in phone scam

­TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

A Bahraini man lost BD3,000 from his account after fraudsters allegedly stole his ATM Card details by misleading him into believing that they were bank employees in a phone call.

Case files say the caller reportedly requested the man his ATM card details for updating their database. Police arrested two suspects in the case, but they denied any involvement during a trial before the High Criminal Court.

The Bahraini victim told the court that the whole episode began with a call from a man who claimed to be a bank employee. “He requested my ATM card details to update their database, and I gave it without smelling

any foul-play. However, after some time, I received an SMS showing that someone withdrew BD3,000 from my account,” the victim said.

“I immediately contacted the bank and requested to suspend my account,” he added. Police later found two suspects in connection with the fraud.

Both of them are Asians by nationality. According to investigators, the men transferred the money to another man residing outside the Kingdom, and he, in return, sent the money back to their accounts.

Based on the evidence, the Police arrested them. However, the first defendant denied involvement in the scam during the trial. He told the court that the second defendant offered to work with him for selling electronic equipment.

“And he told me that money will come to his account, and he needed to re-send them to other accounts. I didn’t know from where the money was coming,” he said.