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Bank customers still a target of criminals

SHARJAH — Despite the awareness campaign launched recently by Sharjah Police warning the public to be cautious after visiting a bank, crimes such as theft, mugging of bank customers by unidentified people continue to be reported around some banks in Sharjah.

Sharjah Police hoped they had curbed the phenomena following the recent arrest of a gang of three Asian members involved in a series of robberies of bank customers during the past four months.

However, two more cases took place after the Asian gang was busted, indicating that the police still needs to take stringent measures to combat such phenomena.

The two cases reported recently include a robbery of a Dutch resident who had Dh40,200 stolen from his vehicle immediately after he had withdrawn cash from the bank located on King Faisal Road.

Another victim of the crime was an Asian woman who had Dh10,000 stolen from her car while she stepped away from her car briefly to talk to a friend after placing the packet of money inside the vehicle.

The police said that they are currently investigating the two cases, hoping they can arrest the criminals and return the money to return to its legal owners.

Naeema Khamees Al Nahi, a UAE national working at the Al Qasimi Hospital, disclosed she was one of the ATM card theft victims.

“I had kept my ATM card in a wallet along with my mobile phone in which I had saved my PIN number when a thief at a shopping centre picked my purse and withdrew around Dh7,000,” Al Nahi said.

Commenting on the campaign launched by Sharjah Police to warn bank clients to be alert and careful after leaving banks with cash, Brigadier Sultan Al Nuaimi, Acting Director of the Criminal Research centre at Sharjah Police, told Khaleej Times that the number of cases involving robberies of bank customers, in addition to thefts at ATMs and credit cards had increased due to the negligence of customers themselves.

Brig. Al Nuaimi said that the money withdrawn by thieves from bank accounts of customers’ ATMs and credits cards reached around Dh200,000. The robberies of bank customers are reportedly carried out by gangs following customers till they leave their money in the car and then break into the vehicle. Most of the offenders who commit such robberies and are arrested by the police hailed from Asian, African and Latin American countries after entering the country on visit visa.

He said Sharjah Police are very concerned about these crimes. As a result, the department decided to organise this campaign to educate bank costumers to protect their money and prevent themselves from being robbed.

The police organised such a campaign to provide tips for money safety and protection to bank clients after they leave the bank.

The customers were warned by the police not to put money in an uncovered places inside the vehicle and leave it for any reason.

The police distributed campaign leaflets to the customers of all banks in Sharjah to follow safety instruction.

He stressed that the negligence of the customer is one of the reasons for the increase in such kind of thefts. Most of the customers leave their cash inside the cars, while some leave their pin numbers along with ATM cards in the vehicle or at ATM machines, and sometimes even allow others to see their pin number. As far as the police efforts are concerned, Al Nuaimi said that the police had succeeded in arresting many of them. But some cases need further investigations. However, the police is responding to all complaints lodged by the public regarding thefts and robberies, he said.

Suhail Abu Hijla, Director of Bank Operations at the Sharjah Islamic Bank said that there were no cases of such robberies reported by his bank customers.

“However, I am aware that such cases were reported in some banks in Sharjah.”

He pointed out that the bank had contracted with security companies to refill money in ATM machines, and at the same time to inspect the machines regularly to ensure that its CCTV cameras placed at ATM machines are functioning properly.

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