Electronic Financial Scams: When Technology Becomes a Trap for Stealing Trust and Money
Walid Dalil
Banking Expert
In an age in which technology has become an inseparable part of our daily lives, electronic financial scams have emerged as one of the most dangerous modern crimes, not merely because they target money, but because they strike at the very heart of human trust, exploiting people’s needs, ignorance, and good faith. It is a silent crime: no gunshots are heard, no signs of forced entry are seen, yet it leaves behind painful losses and severe psychological and economic consequences.
Electronic financial scams are transnational crimes that rely on modern technological tools as their primary means of execution, targeting bank accounts, electronic wallets, and citizens’ personal data. Its perpetrators are often individuals with high levels of technical and cognitive expertise, possessing carefully crafted persuasive skills and discourse that lead victims to hand over the keys to their own money—without realising they have fallen into a meticulously laid trap.
Methods of electronic scams vary, but they all converge at one point: manipulating the mind before stealing the money. In some cases, the scam is effectively “voluntary”, when a victim receives a phone call from someone claiming to be a bank employee or a representative of an official financial institution. Exploiting fear or urgency, the scammer requests sensitive information such as card numbers or verification codes, which the victim provides in good faith and careless trust, unaware that they are signing off on their own loss. In other cases, scams are carried out through electronic links presented with attractive interfaces or tempting offers; once clicked, the phone or computer is compromised, and data is stolen without the owner’s knowledge.
Fake advertisements have not been spared from this dark landscape either. Some scammer entities impersonate banking institutions or well-known companies, promoting false services or updates whose sole purpose is to lure users and extract their financial data. With the recent widespread use of electronic wallets, risks have increased further—especially when used without adequate awareness or security precautions—making these wallets an easy target for scammers.
As a result of today’s rapid technological advancement, and the revolution brought about by the global network (the internet) in the lives of millions—alongside the proliferation of websites and the conveniences they offer in saving time and effort across economic, commercial, and social activities—individuals are now able to conduct their daily transactions online. These include checking bank accounts, making financial transfers, and carrying out buying and selling operations. Despite the advantages of modern technology, its use has revealed certain negative aspects arising from its unlawful exploitation by offenders, harming individual interests and electronic commerce.
Scams, in general, rely on deception and misrepresentation to unlawfully obtain a victim’s money. Financial scam crimes constitute an assault on an individual’s financial integrity and are increasing daily due to the diversity of fraudulent methods employed by offenders, which cannot be confined to a single pattern.
Among the most common social engineering tactics used in banking scams are fake links that claim to belong to official bodies or corporate entities, which create the illusion of credibility and prompt victims to share their banking details, card information, and other sensitive data to deceive them.
In the face of the growing incidence of scams, Sudan—along with other Arab legal systems—has recognised the seriousness of this crime and has sought to address it by enacting laws aimed at combating scam activities.
Key Methods of Financial Scams:
Unknown parties claiming to be official institutions—such as banks or government bodies, including the Central Bank of Sudan or, as in some cases, Bank of Khartoum—contact you by phone, text message, or email, asking you to disclose your credit card details, banking passwords, or verification codes sent to your phone, under the pretext of updating your information, winning a prize, or resolving an alleged problem with your bank account.
Exploiting individuals’ psychological needs, such as the desire for quick wealth or winning cash or in-kind prizes.
Dealing with unlicensed entities or individuals operating illegally who offer services such as granting loans on unusually favourable terms, or settling loans and financial arrears without logical conditions—sometimes paying on your behalf in exchange for signing documents that bind you to repay much larger sums.
Leakage of your bank account data or credit card information due to the absence of security software on your computer or mobile phone when using electronic banking channels, or when shopping on untrustworthy e-commerce websites.
Ways to Protect Yourself from Financial Fraud:
Do not respond to any phone calls or text messages requesting disclosure of private information related to your bank accounts or credit cards, or asking you to share verification codes sent to your phone by a financial institution.
Avoid dealing with unlicensed entities.
Protect your computer and mobile phone from hacking by installing effective security software and tools to make internet use safer.
Review bank notifications related to your transactions, as well as your credit card statements, to verify the execution of financial operations.
Inform your bank immediately of any fraudulent activity you encounter, so that the necessary measures can be taken and other clients can be warned.
Change your username and password for online banking services regularly.
Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=10163