Pursuing its endeavors to promote financial culture and raise awareness among the different segments of society, National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) organized a panel discussion on fraud risk and schemes and the ways of customer protection from the same, with the participants in “Tamakan” training program for Kuwaiti fresh university graduates.
In this session, Adnan Al-Tamimi, Digital Communications Officer at National Bank of Kuwait, delivered a presentation about actual fraud cases made using different schemes, by discussing five case studies with the participants. This included a fraud case of a Nigerian hackers group, and another by of scammers calling customers from numbers that appear as local numbers. Other examples covered SMS fraud by sending messages to trick customers that they won prizes on unreliable websites such as stock trading websites, in addition to accounts claiming to provide financial aid and requesting bank data to deposit this aid, and finally, some fake websites that impersonate official figures or entities.
On a question by one of the participants about how to avoid fraud, Al-Tamimi said: “The best way to protect yourself from fraud is to refrain from sharing banking and personal information with anyone, in addition to carefully following the tips of banks, banking awareness campaigns, and educational materials posted by the Central Bank of Kuwait and Kuwaiti banks on various social media platforms, which show customers the different schemes used by fraudsters and how to protect themselves from falling victim to them.”
“As the leading financial institution in Kuwait and the region, NBK frequently organizes various activities to raise awareness about all topics related to the banking sector and spread financial culture among all segments of society,” he added.
Al-Tamimi highlighted NBK’s endeavors to combat fraud by posting videos, competitions and surveys on all its digital channels and social media pages, which come at the top Kuwaiti banks in terms of the number of followers. “NBK harnesses its huge capabilities to spread banking culture among the largest segments possible of the public,” he said.
“NBK is a key supporter and partner in all the initiatives and campaigns of the Central Bank of Kuwait aiming to raise financial awareness and spread banking culture among all segments of society,” he emphasized.
NBK is keen to provide consistent support to the “Let’s Be Aware” banking awareness campaign, which covers many topics such as the process of borrowing, investment, saving, bank cards, awareness of the rights of special needs customers, as well as tips related to cybersecurity and the protection of bank accounts. It also provides guidance regarding complaint submission mechanisms and protection of customers’ rights and interests, and introduces the functions and role of the banking sector in driving and developing the economy, in order to create awareness among all segments of society about banking and financial dealings.
“Let’s Be Aware” is a banking awareness campaign launched by the Central Bank of Kuwait, in cooperation with Kuwaiti banks and Kuwait Banking Association (KBA), as part of the endeavors to spread financial culture and raise awareness among banks’ customers of their rights and responsibilities. The campaign also aims to introduce to customers the best ways to benefit from banking services, and to promote saving and investment culture, by publishing a variety of awareness material and information related to financial culture.
