Dubai: Foreign exchange and remittance centres in the UAE have taken proactive steps to minimise risks and detect crimes at their centres by getting training from Dubai Police.
The Foreign Exchange and Remittance Group (FERG), comprising around 65 exchange houses in the UAE, recently underwent an exclusive joint training session with a delegation from the Dubai Police’s Criminal Investigation (CID), Cyber Crime, and Organised Crime and Money Laundering departments. The sessions focused on how to identify and monitor transactions that might have risks associated with them.
Major Al Joker from the CID said criminals employ various schemes when they want to attack exchange houses. “These can range from indirect approaches to direct physical crimes. Staff awareness must be raised to prevent such attacks, or take necessary safe action, in such an event,” Al Joker said. Less than two weeks ago, a veiled woman attempted to rob an exchange house in Abu Dhabi using a gun that later turned out to be plastic. The suspect was arrested at the scene.
Osama Al Rahma, FERG Chairman, said the exchange house’s alertness helped police apprehend the suspect.
“The staff have basic knowledge through the in-house training. All exchange houses are well-equipped and totally connected 24 hours with the police by the alarm systems, infrared protectors during closing times, and latest surveillance cameras,” Al Rahma told Gulf News.
“Keeping the staff and officers of the exchange houses always updated with the latest security alert and security awareness is something important for us from the FERG perspective,” he added.
But even with all the latest surveillance technology, Al Rahma said they are not taking any chances by not training their staff on how to deal with the attackers themselves.
“They need to be able to handle certain cases or situations, especially during an attack. These things are more understood and analysed by the Criminal Investigation Department of Dubai Police. So they shared this information with us to ensure that we have updated security awareness across our network which will help the whole community,” Al Rahma said.
Apart from identifying criminal behaviour, police officers also trained the staff on how to detect counterfeit currencies and examine common cyber crime categories.
“There was an alert sent to us a few weeks ago by the Central Bank about cyber attacks on financial institutions warning us to take more precautions. We don’t necessarily have to wait for something to happen before [doing the training]. With understanding and planning, it helps you be on the preventive side and helps you minimise risks,” Al Rahma said.
