BankDhofar Underscores Fraud Awareness Amid Rising Customer Reports

As part of its commitment to customer protection and financial literacy, the bank has announced an awareness campaign designed to educate customers about the latest fraud scenarios and help them protect their personal and banking information.

In recent months, the bank has witnessed a surge in fraud cases, where customers have unknowingly shared sensitive account information, resulting in unauthorised transactions. The bank’s initiative aims to raise awareness around these fraudulent activities and equip customers with the knowledge to safeguard their accounts.

Some of the cases that have been reported include:

• Case 1: A customer shared their account details with a recruitment office for female workers and later received an SMS notifying them that their email address had been updated. The next day, OMR 501 was deducted via internet banking.  
• Case 2: A customer visited a website to raise a complaint and entered their account details. Soon after, multiple OTPs were received, and OMR 5,000 was transferred to an unknown beneficiary.  
• Case 3: A fraudster impersonated a Customer Protection Authority official through a video call and instructed the customer to visit a fake website to resolve an issue. The customer provided personal details, leading to OMR 35,000 being deducted from their accounts.  
• Case 4: A fraudster impersonating Omantel staff requested sensitive account information. After the customer shared the details, they suspected a scam and contacted the call centre.  
• Case 5: A customer clicked on a fraudulent link from the ‘Hurmoz House’ labour department SMS, leading to unauthorised transactions totalling OMR 10,950.  

In each of these instances, BankDhofar’s call centre agents acted swiftly to block cards, disable digital channels, and freeze accounts, minimising further losses.

Highlighting that the safety and security of customers' accounts are BankDhofar’s top priority, Anees AL Raiisi, head of operational Risk said, “These real-life scenarios underscore the importance of vigilance and awareness. We urge our customers to never share their personal or banking information with unverified sources, and to always verify the legitimacy of any communication they receive. Our objective of creating awareness is to help customers protect themselves from fraud.”

BankDhofar advises customers to remain cautious and to report any suspicious activity immediately to the bank’s call centre. The bank is committed to continuously enhancing its security measures and educating customers to combat the growing threat of fraud.