Bankrupt Banker: HSBC

Thousands of bank account holders are believed to have been the victims of a massive ATM fraud that has swept across Abu Dhabi

Banks across the United Arab Emirates are fighting to restore confidence in the banking system after hackers used counterfeit cards to withdraw funds from cash machines." Banks involved include Citibank, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Emirates NBD. At least seven major banks have been affected and tens of thousands of customers were forced to change PIN codes. Some saw their cards swallowed by cash machines or were informed their cards no longer worked. There is still no official word on who the fraudsters are or how they were able to breach security in the first place, though early signs of trouble came on August 26, when the US embassy in Abu Dhabi reported “numerous” cases of US citizens in the UAE who had been victims of credit and debit card fraud.As further cases came to light, UAE banks including HSBC, Citibank, Dubai Bank and National Bank of Abu Dhabi issued statements to announce extra customer protection, such as a block on card usage overseas, with HSBC citing an “attack on our local accounts from counterfeit ATM card usage abroad”. But the new measures are little comfort to those already affected. One expat, an HSBC customer, had the daily maximum amount of dhs8,000 withdrawn from his account in a matter of minutes over the weekend. He received a flurry of text messages, informing him that dhs800 had been withdrawn from his account - ten times.“The maximum amount is crazy,” the customer said. “There were ten cash transactions in the space of a few minutes. How can security not pick up on that? It’s a shambles. Banks are trusted to look after your money, not to lose it.”A source at HSBC told 7DAYS the number of customers affected at its branches is around 1,000.Banks warned customers of potential fraud by sending text messages recommending that they change their PIN codes.Saif Al Shehhi, senior general manager of NBAD’s domestic banking division, said his bank “utilises sophisticated fraud monitoring techniques” and was able to quickly detect the attacks and take urgent action to limit the problem. “This includes the use of SMS alerts where customers are notified of any activities on their accounts, which has also assisted us in containing the problem,” he said.One UK-based financial expert said the criminals appeared to have attacked multiple banks simultaneously, indicating they were targeting the industry as a whole rather than one institution. While the banks, along with card operators MasterCard and Visa, continue to investigate the security breach, a senior official at Dubai Police has asked fraud victims to immediately lodge complaints with them.

Thousands of bank account holders are believed to have been the victims of a massive ATM fraud that has swept across Abu Dhabi

Banks across the United Arab Emirates are fighting to restore confidence in the banking system after hackers used counterfeit cards to withd...

Jagmeet Channa pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud and another of money laundering after he admitted using colleagues' passwords

Jagmeet Channa, 25, showed no remorse as Judge Geoffrey Rivlin, sitting at the Southwark Crown Court, bemoaned his limited sentencing powers in dealing with the "audacious and outrageous" crime. Channa had previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud and another of money laundering after he admitted using colleagues' passwords to steal money from a trading account which he then wired to associates in Manchester and Morocco. Today, Judge Rivlin told him: “This was no silly prank. This was a carefully planned and very serious attempt to transfer a fortune in money away and it almost succeeded." Channa worked at the Canary Wharf headquarters of Britain's largest bank for less than a year. In April, the court heard, he sent €60 million from an HSBC trading account to a Societe Generale branch in Casablanca; minutes later, he wired another €30 million to a Barclays branch in Manchester. However, Channa forgot that the account he had raided had to show a zero balance at the end of each day. The massive debit was discovered over the weekend by HSBC employees in Malaysia, who alerted colleagues in London. Both Barclays and Societe Generale were quickly contacted and the money was returned. HSBC estimated it lost about £54,000 in interest while the money was in other accounts. Initially, the employees whose passwords had been used by Channa were arrested and blamed for the crime. But further inquiries exonerated them and led to Channa, who was sacked by the bank. The court heard that Channa had taken the money at the direction of one or more co-conspirators, in exchange for the promise of a handsome cut. His defence lawyer, Peter Corrigan, said: “Because he had the sort of job he did, offers were made to him and he succumbed to temptation." However, Channa's refusal to cooperate with police meant that no other party involved in the crime has yet been identified. Judge Rivlin said: "Others were inolved, perhaps several others, and in the absence of any explanation from you I must assume this was a planned and sophisticated criminal enterprise. "You say you had no idea who these people were or what was going to happen to the money. I regret I cannot accept this statement." The judge told Channa that while his guilty pleas would attract some credit, “the evidence against you is quite overwhelming”. His confession, age, remorse and the fact he had not made a penny from his dishonesty were among the few other things in his favour. Judge Rivlin compared the maximum 10-year sentence available to the 14 years that could be passed for handling and burglary. But he said he must nevertheless "do all that I can to deter those employed by financial institutions from committing such offences". He added: “Where anyone acting in flagrant breach of trust and attempts to steal many millions of pounds, the sentence will inevitably be a very long one." Detective Sergeant Martin Peters said: “This crime is believed to be one of the largest frauds of its kind and it is thanks to the prompt response of the police and the banks that the money was recovered. “The City of London Police takes a robust stance against members of staff that abuse their position and steal from their employer.” The attempted fraud occurred at a sensitive time for the banking sector. It took place just months after Societe Generale, the French bank, alleged that trader Jerome Kerviel lost €4.9 billion (£3.8 billion), while Credit Suisse later revealed that some of its traders had caused pricing errors leading to a $2.85 billion (£1.4 billion) writedown.

Jagmeet Channa pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud and another of money laundering after he admitted using colleagues' passwords

Jagmeet Channa, 25, showed no remorse as Judge Geoffrey Rivlin, sitting at the Southwark Crown Court, bemoaned his limited sentencing powers...

HSBC banking group has admitted losing a computer disc with the details of 370,000 customers

The HSBC banking group has admitted losing a computer disc with the details of 370,000 customers. The disc was lost four weeks ago after being sent by courier from the bank's life insurance offices in Southampton. The customers' details included their names, dates of birth, and their levels of insurance cover. However, there were no addresses or bank account details and HSBC said the customers' exposure to potential fraud was limited."We are looking into it and basically it has got lost from A to B," said an HSBC spokesman. "The reinsurer we sent it to is doing a thorough search for the disc. We will do anything we can to find it." "There are no financial details there in terms of banking details. There are no address details or anything like that," he added. As well as name, date of birth and value of the cover, the documents revealed only the customer's policy number and whether or nor the customer was a smoker.” HSBC is claiming that customers’ exposure to potential fraud will be limited. I think that that ‘limit’ will be determined once the investigation has been completed. However, if the disc fell into the hands of professional identify thieves, the potential for fraud will not be limited.

HSBC banking group has admitted losing a computer disc with the details of 370,000 customers

The HSBC banking group has admitted losing a computer disc with the details of 370,000 customers. The disc was lost four weeks ago after bei...