Pinay in UAE loses over P100,000 savings to hacker

In a matter of minutes, a Filipina in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) lost Dh12,000 (P143,065) in savings to a computer hacker in August, a UAE-based news site reported on Thursday. A report of Gulf News said the Filipina, a resident of Dubai, lamented that her bank did not act quickly enough to prevent her account from being virtually cleaned out. The woman, 28, a document controller, said her bank account and ATM card have both been blocked. The report said the woman fears that the suspect, an African man, may have already fled UAE. Gulf News cited a Norton-Symantec survey showing that at least two people fall victim to cyber criminals every minute in the UAE. According to Gulf News, the survey estimates that the victims lost more than Dh775 million in cash from February 2010 to March 2011. The report said the incident happened at about 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 20, when she received a text message that a single transaction on her bank account without her authorization left her with only Dh5. Although she called the bank to stop the transaction, it was too late, the report said. The woman said she reported the incident immediately to the police, who have been helpful to her. - VVP, GMA News