#TogetherAgainstFraud: The Joint Campaign against Cybercrimes
UAE’s first national fraud awareness campaign which began last April with the theme #TogetherAgainstFraud will be extended. It was a joint initiative on the part of the UAE Banks Federation (UBF), The Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), Abu Dhabi Police, Dubai Police, and Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA).
During the Covid-19 situation, the customers have started using internet banking services more than usual which necessitated that they are educated and made aware of the cybercrimes and similar frauds. With more banking operations happening on the virtual platform than the physical platform, fraudsters are inventing new methods to deceive people and steal from both banks and customers. This campaign would ensure that people are always sceptical and vigilant against such frauds.
The campaign intends to continue to make people educate on how to handle frauds and how to be vigilant against cybercrimes. They use social media, print media and video campaigns to fight cybercrimes. Educational videos and printed articles have ensured the success of this campaign in the first year. The joint initiative has made use of the social media platform also to reach a maximum number of customers to ensure that they are well aware of the fraudulent activities happening in cyberspace.
The campaign focuses on different kinds of topics related to cybercrimes each month. Social media privacy, email fraud, phone fraud, business email compromise, digital banking safety, e-commerce security, advance-fee scam and social engineering are some of the topics covered by the campaign.
The campaign has to be seen as a joint effort on the part of the authorities to tackle the growing threat from cybercriminals on the economy and also their commitment towards the customer’s safety, according to Khaled Mohamed Balama, Governor, Central Bank of the UAE.
Abdulaziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of UAE Banks Federation mentions that while the internet banking and mobile banking facilities have helped people to continue the business, the same has become the new space for fraudulent activities and attacks. The campaign, according to him, plays an important role as internet banking is becoming increasingly normal and has high potential.