UAE: Credit card details of many customers stolen

News Network

December 3, 2017

Dubai: The central bank in United Arab Emirates has asked financial institutions to cancel the credit cards of those customers whose detains have been reportedly stolen.

"Please note that these details have been compromised and thus, contact the persons mentioned in the enclosed list if they are your customers, and take the required action to cancel the relevant credit cards," said a circular sent by the UAE Central Bank to local and foreign banks and finance companies operating in the UAE.

According to sources credit card details of around 250 customers have been compromised. The central bank details showed that all the cardholders are based in Dubai. However, the issuing banks were not mentioned in the curricular.

The curricular - sent to banks on November 29, 2017 - contains credit card numbers, email addresses and mobile numbers of the affected customers.

A news paper reported that some UAE residents shared their harrowing stories on Reditt regarding card frauds they faced after transactions at shopping malls, petrol pumps and online stores.

Residents have been advised not to share credit card details and PIN numbers with petrol station attendants, shopping mall receptionists and anyone on the Internet - not even with relatives and friends. The banks advise their cardholders to change PIN numbers time and again for security reasons.

John Shier, senior security adviser, Sophos, said people should feel free to browse deals on their smartphones but be cautious of the wireless network they're connected to when shopping online.

"Only enter your credit card information when you're on a secure network that you trust. And remember the best way to keep your money safe is to use online payments system such as PayPal or your credit card. Where possible, avoid using debit cards to purchase gifts online," says Shier.

The simplest - and one of the most common - method employed by cybercriminals is that they take a popular online brand and change one letter or two to trick people into clicking and sharing personal information.

"Always check the spelling and be on the lookout for smart typo-squatting like the famous Tvvitter attack," adds Shier.

But if a customer has fallen a victim to a phishing attack, he must change the password immediately and contact the bank to see if there has been any fraudulent activity.

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Israeli forces invade southwestern Syria, set up checkpoint in Quneitra

News Network

November 24,2025

Israeli forces have pushed over the Syrian frontier, erecting a checkpoint and stopping vehicles in the southwestern city of Quneitra, in yet another breach of the Arab country’s sovereignty.

The violation took place on Sunday, when the troops made their way across the border, setting up the outpost near the Ain al-Bayda junction in northern Quneitra, Syrian outlets reported.

According to the al-Ikhbariya paper, an Israeli detachment positioned itself at the junction, halting cars and conducting searches.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that three Israeli military vehicles then moved further into the northern countryside, deploying between the town of Jubata al-Khashab and the villages of Ofaniya and Ain al-Bayda. The agency added that a separate Israeli unit mounted a new incursion in the central region, approaching the villages of Umm Batina and al-Ajraf.

Residents said such activities have surged in recent months, pointing to Israeli advances onto farmland, leveling of extensive forested areas, arrests, and spread of mobile checkpoints.

The Israeli regime began markedly increasing its military aggression against Syria last year.

The escalation coincided with increasingly ferocious onslaughts throughout the country by the so-called Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad had confined to northwestern Syria. The HTS, however, managed to overthrow the government as the Israeli attacks would pummel the country’s civilian and defensive infrastructure.

Various reports have shown that, during the escalation, the regime conducted more than 1,000 airstrikes on the Syrian territory and over 400 ground raids into the south.

Following the collapse of the Assad government, Tel Aviv also widened its grip over the occupied Golan Heights by taking control of a demilitarized buffer zone, in defiance of a 1974 Disengagement Agreement. Earlier this month, senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, visited the buffer zone, prompting expressions of alarm on the part of the United Nations.

The United States, the regime’s biggest ally, has, meanwhile, been fraternizing the HTS head Abu Mohammed al-Jolani amid the widely reported prospect of rapprochement with Tel Aviv.

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