Businessmen lose Dh1.9m in email scam

Manama: Two businessmen in Kuwait, a Kuwaiti national and a Lebanese citizen, lost 150,000 Kuwaiti dinar (Dh1.9 million) to a hacker in an email scam.

The two fruit and vegetable merchants received an email from their South African partner asking them to send the money in order to pay for produce and shipping operations.

He instructed them to use a new account he had in South Africa and to transfer the money in four installments, local dailyAl Rai reported on Wednesday.

However, soon after they sent the money, they received a message on their mobiles from their partner warning them not to trust any details, information or request that might reach them from his email, explaining that his account had been hacked.

The two businessmen reported the scam to the police, saying that it was the first time they had been cheated.

People in Arabian Gulf countries are regularly warned about scams targeting their bank accounts as well as and fraudulent calls and text messages seeking personal information. They are urged to be wary of phishing attempts and to exercise the highest care by hanging up the phone or ignoring messages or emails.