KUWAIT CITY, May 20: A Gulf national has filed a case with the Commercial Affairs Prosecution Office, accusing an individual of forging a bank document. The complaint was submitted based on a recommendation from a local bank and a mobile telecommunications company.

According to the complainant, he intended to pay a mobile phone bill of 6 Kuwaiti dinars. While searching for the telecom company’s website via Google, he mistakenly accessed a fraudulent site that closely resembled the legitimate one. The incident occurred at 10:12 PM on April 21.

He stated, “I entered the amount of 6 dinars into the payment field and proceeded to enter my account number, bank name, and password. However, the website informed me that the transaction could not be completed.”

To his shock, within just two minutes—between 10:12 PM and 10:14 PM—he received four text messages, each notifying him of a withdrawal of 24,750 dinars from his account. He quickly contacted his bank, and an employee managed to block the card before a fifth attempted withdrawal of the same amount could go through.

“I then contacted the telecom company,” he said, “and they confirmed that the site I had used was indeed fraudulent.” He added, “I thanked God I was awake during the incident—otherwise, my bank account would have been emptied by morning.”

Financial fraud continues to pose a significant threat to individuals and businesses, especially with the widespread use of electronic communication, which fraudsters exploit by taking advantage of people’s lack of awareness and understanding of cybersecurity measures.

The Kuwaiti legislature has addressed the issue of cyber fraud by enforcing strict penalties. Article 3 of Law No. 63 of 2015 on Combating Information Technology Crimes stipulates that anyone who, through the use of information networks or technological means, unlawfully obtains money, benefits, documents, or signatures for themselves or others, is subject to imprisonment for up to three years and/or a fine ranging from 3,000 to 10,000 Kuwaiti dinars.