RIYADH, November 24, 2017 – Cases of bank fraud lower compared to most countries in the world, according to Saudi Banks, the Kingdom’s association of bankers. The news comes at a time when cases of forgery in the industry has been rising steadily across the world, prompting experts to warn that all the technology in the world may not be able to help banks to protect themselves against this menace.
“The number of cases of banking fraud in the Kingdom is in the acceptable range, compared to the global average,” said Talat Zaki Hafiz, the secretary-general of the media and banking awareness committee for Saudi Banks, last week, attributing it to “prudent banking measures”.
He underlined the need for financial education as he spoke at the launch of the ninth edition of “Mo_Alaina”, a public financial awareness campaign. “This campaign is aimed at educating the public about the techniques of banking fraud, how to deal with it and avoid it by being cautious while using an ATM or making online transactions,” he said.
The drive, he said, was meant to “alert the public to banking fraud”.
Ibrahim Saad Abu Muti, head of the banking information at Saudi Banks, said that this year’s campaign will deal with fake and unlicensed investments.
A 2016 report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners – the world’s largest anti-fraud organization and is a provider of anti-fraud training and education – said that a typical organisation loses 5 percent of its revenue to fraud each year. The report also mentioned that banking and finance were the most represented sectors in the fraud cases examined by the association.
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