Many UAE bank clients report embezzlement cases

Dubai: A number of bank clients are reporting embezzlement cases as certain amounts from their accounts are being transferred to other accounts without their authorization.

A security source revealed to Gulf News that a new phenomenon is remerging in the country. "Banks are slacking back in providing security to their clients," he said.

The police source said that this month they received five to six complaints from clients having accounts with leading international banks. According to him, one of the clients was surprised to find around Dh450,000 transferred from his account without being notified or communicated by the bank.

Another person had Dh40,000 withdrawn from his account; the least was Dh10,000, said the source.

The embezzlement happened in different methods but most commonly by people filling out an application from the bank. The fraudulent fills up the victim’s personal information and forges the signature.

"Personal information could be leaked in many ways. People buy those information from certain authorities or from online transactions," he said.

The security source confirmed that this phenomenon is taking place while adding that an investigation is under way. The main responsibility lies with the banks, which sometimes fail to intensify their check on these applications.

"There are banks that have specialized ATM machines for disbursement of cheques and they have designated forms for money transfer that can be deposited without checking the identity of the person. It is happening," he said.

The source confirmed that there is a real problem in the matter. "In these cases, banks are forced to return the amount of money transferred from the customer accounts, in particular if the customer was not notified immediately of the transfer."

The source stressed the need for banks to take precautionary measures against those fraudulent operations and protect the assets of its customers.

"These cases are being investigated to examine whether there are loopholes in the banking system or if there are employees in the bank failing to carry out their duties prudently," he said.