Dangerous Learning Curve
Ahmed R. Kunnumpurath · 2012
Ahli Commerce Bank (ACB) was founded in Saudi Arabia which grew into one of the leading banks in the Persian Gulf. One Saturday afternoon, ACB's customer service center received a call from A. J. Simon, a Belgian national who held an account with the Riyadh branch. A. J. claimed that $40,000 had been transferred from his checking account without his authorization. The call center employee checked A. J.’s account and saw that an online transfer for $40,000 had indeed been executed that day through an Internet banking transaction, and he forwarded the matter to ACB's Internet Banking Unit (IBU). While the fraudulent transfer was being investigated from A. J.’s account, three other customers called to complain that they received text messages on their mobile phones informing them of unauthorized debits from their accounts. The investigation proved almost certainly that an organized group of hackers working outside the country who gained access to customers’ stolen user identifications (IDs) and passwords accessed customer accounts. The lesson one can learn from this chapter is computers should have up-to-date antivirus software installed to stop Trojan horses, spyware and other dangerous viruses from invading the system and stealing confidential information.