On Friday, Rafidain Bank said that it is eager to teach its customers and the general public good practices for using electronic services. It also told customers to use caution and care to avoid the risks that could come from attempts to access their personal and financial information through identity theft, viruses, spyware, or electronic fraud.
Rafidain Bank advised its clients to follow the following instructions in a statement that was reviewed today: Keep the password secret, avoid using well-known and easy-to-guess passwords, and change it frequently to avoid easy knowledge. For the sake of their safety and security, the bank advised its customers not to use known information as a password, such as their phone number, date of birth, or any easily recognizable part of their name.
According to the bank’s statement, customers should update their information and data whenever there is a change through the branches, regardless of whether the customer is receiving a salary or not. Additionally, customers should keep their salary card number (Master or Visa Card), Internet banking, and phone banking application confidential.
Customers were instructed by the bank to “continuously check your account movements (via account statement, movements in the phone application), and if you have any doubts about any of them, visit your branch or the Banking Awareness and Public Protection Department in the bank’s general management.” This instruction was provided to them by the financial institution.
“These messages are sent to you by someone impersonating an employee at the bank you deal with, who sends you messages asking you for information about your bank account or credit card under the pretext of verifying their numbers,” the statement provided examples of fraudulent messages.
Fraud by tricking your account into browsing The bank explained that the trick of “Find out who browsed your Facebook account” or any other social network kept many users on social networks.
“These messages claim that you have won valuable prizes or a trip to a certain country, and the sender of the message asks you to pay a certain amount to receive your prize,” the bank said of prize-winning messages. Don’t do that.
“Collecting money in a deceptive manner, as these fraudsters publish fake stories about a patient in need of treatment or a poor family or others and request donations from social media users,” the statement said of fundraising fraud.
The bank stated, “If you apply for a job online, you will absolutely be asked to fill out an application form.” That is possible, but be careful not to write down your credit card number or bank account number.
Tips for avoiding attempts at fraud The bank addressed customers and stated: Avoid interacting with individuals who ask for a small payment in exchange for a prize, gift, or other offer.
“You do not agree to transfer a conversation with a specific person outside of social networks, such as communicating through WhatsApp or providing that person’s email address,” the statement went on to say.
The bank urged customers to confirm the identities of individuals who send them emergency messages claiming to be friends or family, noting that messages with spelling and grammar errors are always suspicious and should be avoided.
“If you want to provide assistance or aid, do so through official and trusted sources,” the bank advised customers and clients, added, “do not trust pages that represent large companies or public figures that you have not verified.”
“Do not click on links that you receive via WhatsApp or social networks or those that are published in comments,” he continued, “Do not trust any social media pages that claim to make you a quick profit through the Internet or working from home.”
Customers were urged by the bank to exercise caution and take precautions to avoid falling victim to illegal strategies designed to defraud citizens and steal their money. These strategies involve individuals pretending to be employees of private companies, international organizations, or financial institutions, and then carrying out the following actions:
using social media (Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) to communicate with customers under the guise of offering financial assistance, prizes, or monthly salaries for a predetermined period in exchange for obtaining the customer’s personal information, data, and a picture of the bank card that was given to him, as well as the secret number and the OTP verification code.
Carry out electronic transfer operations for the purposes of paying bills and purchases, charging mobile phone balances, or making electronic financial transfers to other individuals by using the data and information necessary to create accounts in the names of customers, modify their account data, update their data, or request the number that will be sent to you via SMS. After that, use the data and information necessary to create accounts in their names.
communicating with the recipients of the money transfers under the guise that they were executed in their favor by mistake and then asking them to reverse the amount by charging a specific phone balance or transferring it to a specific account.
