KUWAIT: National Bank of Kuwait is committed to enhancing the financial knowledge of all society segments, raising their awareness in the best ways possible to protect their rights, and safeguarding their accounts and banking information. In this light, NBK launched a chain of workshops to be held all year long in collaboration with “Lei W Lakom” initiative to spread financial knowledge, raise awareness, and provide essential pieces of advice when using digital banking platforms.

This initiative comes in line with the bank’s support to “Let’s Be Aware”, the banking awareness campaign launched by Central Bank of Kuwait in collaboration with local banks and Kuwait Banking Association. On its part, NBK has intensified its efforts to publish awareness content on its social media platforms, in addition to assigning a specific page on its website that includes all guidelines and relevant topics.

Moreover, these workshops provide pieces of advice that should be followed to avoid fraudulent actions, such as not clicking on any unknown links whether through e-mails or text messages (SMS) or WhatsApp messages or social media pages that transfer users to fake websites, as scammers design web pages like famous shopping websites, pointing to the necessity of checking URL legitimacy before entering any banking data and information.

NBK also called to always check the identity of individuals or companies before disclosing sensitive information or making any transaction that requires personal information, especially with the constantly evolving fraud tactics that scammers follow, like pretending to be friends and family through WhatsApp and e-mails to steal money or pretending to be bank and official institution employees to steal banking information. NBK affirmed that it will never ask customers for personal information via e-mail, SMS or phone calls, warning of responding to such messages representing fraud attempts to steal banking or sensitive information like PINs or Debit Card passwords, unless identified.

The bank also advised customers to use trusted applications only when logging in to banking services, in addition to the importance of using official websites and applications when paying bills, like logging in to official services pages through the government app Sahel, and not using Google search tool as it will show multiple pages similar to government official pages, which put users at risk of being scammed upon clicking on unverified bill-payment links. NBK also emphasized the importance of paying attention when paying any bills for any service provider and verifying the website.

In the same way, users must verify online shopping websites and make sure they are securely coded using the safe https protocol. In addition, NBK called customers to keep a close eye on bank statements and transaction history, to identify any suspicious or unauthorized activity, as the latter often occur after stealing Credit Cards or personal banking information or hacking smart phones through fake apps, further calling for regularly changing passwords and not using the same one for more than one account.

NBK ensures to employ all its massive efforts to communicate with customers through all its digital platforms that are the most followed locally among other banks, to support CBK’s endeavors to protect customers and the economy. It is worth mentioning that NBK is a key supporter and partner in all CBK’s campaigns and initiatives to increase financial and banking awareness among different society segments. As the leading financial institution in Kuwait, the bank frequently organizes various activities to raise awareness on all topics related to the banking sector, as well as organize training programs for employees to enhance their experience in fraud actions and financial crime protection.