Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — Hackers from outside the Kingdom were successful in withdrawing large sums from Saudi bank accounts, according to press reports. They hacked the Internet sites of some Saudi banks, and make repeated withdrawals from customer accounts during late hours. A Saudi victim of seven withdrawals from his bank account said he found out about them from the SMS messages he kept receiving from his bank. He immediately called the bank, but was asked to wait until morning and visit his branch. While waiting, his account was severely depleted — he lost SR10,000. He went to his bank to close his account, but was surprised when the bank manager told him that his account was overdrawn, and he has to settle that amount. Al-Madinah newspaper contacted the bank manager, who asked for the supporting documents to investigate the incident, pointing out that it was a rare case. Another Saudi discovered that an amount was deducted from his account for a Visa card payment. As he did not have a Visa card, he complained to his bank, and the amount was credited back to his account. Talaat Hafez, secretary-general of the Media and Banking Awareness Committee of Saudi Banks, said any victim of fraud should visit his bank immediately, and provide all relevant information. The bank will then check the accuracy of the complaint and return the amounts to the victim's account. The banks have special fraud detection systems that can discover the time and location of transactions. Hafez stressed the importance of the safe keeping of information related to their bank accounts to avoid possible identity thefts. Saudi banks increased their security levels last January after an Israeli hacker allegedly compromised credit card details of more than 5,000 Saudi and non-Saudi card-holders in the Kingdom.
