Arab News has been asked to withhold his name, but we’ve seen the documents related to the crime and this engineer’s story is shocking.

Sent to Yanbu for a business trip, the engineer noticed that his Visa credit card was missing when he arrived. Thinking that he’d simply left it at home, he wasn’t too worried. Returning to Alkhobar six days later, he couldn’t find the credit card at his apartment. The engineer called his local Saudi bank to report the card missing. It was too late.

The card thief had been on a luxury binge. He bought perfume for SR2,475. A visit to a gold shop cost SR11,600. Another purchase of jewelry was worth SR6,000. There was a charge of SR275 at a cosmetics shop and then more perfume was purchased for SR760. One final purchase for SR900 brought the total to SR22,010.

The engineer was horrified. He rushed to all the famous shops mentioned by the bank and obtained copies of the receipts for the purchases. The signatures on the receipts didn’t match his signature registered with the credit card issuer. He proved through his hotel bill that he’d been in Yanbu on the days the purchases were made. All his arguments were useless.

In a letter the bank wrote: “We regret to inform you that we are unable to investigate the disputed transactions since they were performed before reporting the loss of the card — as per the agreement signed with you regarding credit cards usage.”

The engineer fought his case through the available legal channels in the Kingdom. Meanwhile, service charges on the debt were accumulating. Within a few months he cancelled his credit card, but by then the amount due had risen to over SR27,000. After nearly two years of struggle, the outcome was that the engineer was legally ordered to pay the charges. After all, he had agreed to accept all responsibility for charges to the credit card until that card was reported to the bank as lost, stolen or compromised.    

The engineer was furious and he didn’t pay. So the Saudi bank, as was its right, had the engineer’s name added to the “C” list or Saudi banking blacklist. Applications from him for credit facilities or loans would not be accepted by any local bank. At first it wasn’t a problem, since the engineer still had active credit cards at another local bank. But then he decided to build a house and he wanted to build something costing more than the cash he had on hand. He went to ask for a bank loan. Sadly, his name was on the “C” list and the application couldn’t be processed — although his credit worthiness was outstanding in every other way. This week, the engineer negotiated a settlement with the local bank for the credit card debt — SR20,000 — and paid it immediately in order to regain the possibility of credit facilities.

Credit card fraud is a reality in Saudi Arabia. To keep from becoming a victim, understand the details of the usage agreement for your credit card. Additionally, if you don’t need to use your credit card keep it out of your wallet and in a locked location. Consider applying for an e-card for online purchases. Register with your bank for both e-mail and mobile alerts of every credit card purchase. List the bank contacts to notify in case your card is lost or stolen. Ensure that this information is kept readily available in several locations, including online storage. There is no need to note credit card numbers on this list. Take your time when making credit card purchases. Never let the card out of your sight and train yourself to always secure the credit card after every purchase. Check the purchase receipt before signing for the sale and be sure to pay attention to the name of the retailer on the receipt. Finally, reconcile your receipts and your credit card transactions online every week and immediately contact the card issuer if there is any discrepancy.