14 DAY TRIAL // Police in Abu Dhabi, the capital city of the United Arab Emirates, are warning local businesses that international cybercriminals are targeting their bank accounts.
According to Colonel Dr. Rashid Borshid, director of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), the attackers steal details on international financial transactions.
They use the information to have money transferred into their own accounts. “These gangs call on local businesses to pay their dues using the same ‘administrative and electronic’ style, providing new bank account numbers other than the ones agreed upon between both parties, under the pretext of an error or a change in the previously approved bank account number,” Borshid noted.
The colonel has highlighted a couple of incidents that have targeted a restaurant and a company that provides building materials.
In the case of the restaurant, the attackers hacked into the owner’s email account and learned that he was planning to buy another restaurant in Europe.
By posing as the seller, the cybercrooks sent the victim’s accountant a fake request in which they asked for $150,000 (€112,000). Only $40,000 (€30,000) have been recovered.
The attackers in this case are said to be from Europe.
In the second incident, the owner of the building materials company was tricked into wiring $100,000 (€75,000). The same as in the first attack, the fraudsters hacked the company’s email account to get the details of a business deal transaction.
The crooks tricked the owner of the building materials firm into sending the money to a new bank account because of an alleged error in the previously sent data.
The money ended up being sent to a cybercriminal group in East Asia.
Abu Dhabi Police are now trying to raise awareness of these crimes. They advise business owners to be extra cautious when performing financial transactions.
Authorities urge victims to notify them immediately in case a breach is identified.