Mother and daughter duped in BD176 phone scam

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Trusting a polite voice on the end of the line, a mother and daughter gave away their bank codes.

Soon after, they discovered they had lost BD176.

The fraud, carried out by two Asian men posing as a bank employee, is now before the High Criminal Court, with sentencing scheduled for 17 June.

The caller claimed to work for the bank. He spoke with confidence. The daughter believed him.

She provided the account details and one-time passwords for both herself and her mother. Not long after, BD136 was withdrawn from her account and BD40 from her mother’s.

According to the Public Prosecution, the two defendants acted with the help of an unidentified accomplice.

Accounts

They used the card PINs to access the women’s bank accounts and carry out withdrawals.

Investigators say the men also entered the digital banking system and transferred the funds.

The daughter reported the incident to the authorities. A police captain from the Economic Crimes Division stated that the man on the phone had presented himself as helpful, only to take their money instead.

Funds

The investigation showed that the funds were moved to the second defendant’s account.

He then passed the money on to the first, who used cash machines to withdraw it.

Confidential sources said the first defendant used a bank card linked to the second.

Withdrawals

Bank statements confirmed the withdrawals of BD136 and BD40.

Background checks on the two men revealed previous cases of a similar kind.

There were no hacks, no forced entry into systems. Just a soft voice, a convincing story, and a costly mistake.