Banks urge vigilance against fake ATM key number pads

JEDDAH: Local banks have warned against a new method of banking fraud involving the use of fake key number pads similar to the ones installed on automated teller machines (ATMs) to obtain personal identification numbers (PIN) for ATM cards.
"There are gangs outside the kingdom who put fake keyboards made creatively and precisely to look like the original one, which enable crooks to get the personal information of card holders, but fortunately we have not spotted such cases in the kingdom so far and we hope not to witness any in the future," said Talaat Hafiz, secretary-general of Media & Banking Awareness Committee of Saudi Banks (MBAC), told Arab News' sister publication Eqtisadiah.
"Furthermore the banks conduct round-the-clock inspections on ATMs around the clock to ensure the availability of sufficient cash in ATM booths running full time to serve customers, with the application of security measures in accordance with standards," Hafiz said.
To fight such fraud, banks plant surveillance cameras in places where ATMs are located. They also urge clients to inform the bank in case of suspicious of different keyboards at ATMs.
A report issued by Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency recently showed that the number of ATMs operating in the kingdom by the end of the last year rose to 12,712, up by about 8 percent from 11, 749 by the end of 2012.
The same report said banks in the kingdom opened 44 bank branches in various regions in 2012, raising the total number of branches to 1,696.