Bahrain: Cybercrime Ring Busted; Defendants To Stand Trial on March 6
Twenty-one suspects accused of defrauding owners of bank accounts will stand trial at the High Criminal Court on March 6. The Public Prosecution charged them with setting up a cybercrime ring that specialised in stealing money after obtaining details of bank accounts from their owners fraudulently.
Investigation revealed that the criminal network managed to steal BD21,000 from their victims through fraud, said Cybercrime Prosecution Chief in a statement today.
The defendants posed as local bank employees and entered in contact with their victims to tell them that their account details need updated or make them believe that they have won cash prizes, before persuading them into disclosing their passwords.
The Public Prosecution initiated an investigation, alerted by the Cybercrime Directorate at the General Directorate of Anti-corruption, Economic and Electronic Security. It heard the testimonies of the victims as well as the investigator and the official in one of the financial institutions through which the money transfers took place. Locals banks were also ordered to track the victims’ money.
The Public Prosecution questioned 18 suspects who were arrested as part of the investigation and remanded them in custody and ordered the other accomplices who are still at large to be tracked down and brought to trial
