Riyadh – The financial sector in the Kingdom is one of the least susceptible bodies to fraud worldwide, according to Talat Zaki Hafiz, secretary-general of the media and banking awareness committee of the Saudi banks, the apex banking body in the Kingdom.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Hafiz said: “Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that is least vulnerable to financial fraud due to the high levels of awareness of Saudi customers and the highly effective approach of the Saudi banks in fighting this phenomenon.”

Hafiz also announced the launching of the eighth banking awareness campaign by Saudi banks themed: “Do not disclose it.”

Sec-Gen advised that personal information and banking records should not be shared with strangers in order to avoid becoming victim to any financial fraud.

“Tightening the monitoring and security measures on transactions has ensured over the years that the banking systems are completely malpractice free,” he added.

He pointed out that the average fraudulent operations, both successful and aborted in 2014-2015 did not exceed 3,117 transactions, and revealed that the annual losses resulting from financial fraud worldwide is somewhere between 2.5% to 5% of total global trade.

Hafiz further pointed that Saudi banks spare no effort in adopting proper preventive and protective measures, and awareness strategies to avoid financial fraud. This includes detecting signs of fraud or ongoing financial deceptions, as well as adopting integrated plans and policies to adopt robust monitoring systems to fight financial scams, he added.

Head of Media and Banking Awareness Mohammed al-Rabiah pointed that the awareness campaigns done by Saudi Banks annually doesn’t necessarily mean that local banks are breached or that Saudi Arabia’s financial systems are linked to fraud.

He explained that the purpose of these campaigns is to screen the transactions and provide secure channels for customers during their bank transactions.

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