$20 million taken bank accounts in Qatar as well as in the United Arab Emirates were raided by a group of people who specialised in robbing banks

banks in Qatar have taken tough measures to foil any attempt by fraudsters to access from their customer's accounts, a Qatari banker stated. This step was taken after rumours that some bank accounts in Qatar as well as in the United Arab Emirates were raided by a group of people who specialised in robbing banks through decoding Automated Teller Machines (ATM) cards.
A bank source told Al Sharq that several accounts in the Qatari banks have suffered from the same, adding that Qatar Central Bank was coordinating with local banks to develop preventive measures against any suspicious operations. Abdul Rahman Al Meer, Head of Retail Banking at Doha Bank, said, "Banks in Qatar are now taking strict measures to foil such attempts. At Doha Bank, we have created an operation centre to oversee transactions done through ATM cards." "The centre is located at the Salwa Road branch. The task is to contact the holder of the ATM card immediately when any suspicious transaction occurs," Al Meer said. He added that the centre will be working round-the-clock in order to ensure that all ATM card transactions taking place are genuine. Al Meer, however, put the blame on customers for not informing the banks immediately when such cases occur. "Victims of burglary attempts should inform their banks without any delay." "Doha Bank has an investigation committee that looks into any theft case with regard to customer accounts. The committee returns the stolen amount immediately to the customer who is a victim," he said.
There is an organised group of people that target banks in GCC countries. Members of these groups are based in various countries including Russia, Ukraine, Canada and Philippine. These gangs work hard to develop systems that hack into bank accounts and decode the ATM cards. According to crime statistics released by the FBI, there were 1,542 robberies, burglaries and larcenies at banks, S&Ls and credit unions between July 1 and September 30, 2007. Thieves escaped with money in 92 percent of cases. Of nearly $20 million taken, some or all of the money was recovered in 20 percent of the incidents, totaling to $2.2m. Four hundred incidents involved firearms, 750 incidents occurred in metro areas and 565 incidents were prevalent in small towns. 225 incidents took place in the suburbs and 38 in rural areas.