KUWAIT CITY, Aug 29: Acting head of the Support Services Unit at the Combating Cybercrime Department in the Interior Ministry Lieutenant Colonel Ammar Hamid Al-Sarraf has warned about the prevalence of scams in the country, urging parents to keep an eye on their children, and to closely monitor the games the children buy or download and their social media contacts.

Al-Sarraf recently revealed in ‘Ishraqat Kuwaitiya’ program on Al-Akhbar Channel that the mother of a female Kuwaiti student asked for help; because she could no longer control her daughter who spent more than KD20,000 on online games and to support TikTok content. He said social media advertisements are the main source of scams in the country, stressing the need for everyone to know the Cybercrime Law to protect themselves and respect the rights of others.

He pointed out there is a ‘scam season’ in the country; citing as an example the time when Kuwaitis need to hire domestic workers from abroad, particularly the impersonation Al-Durra Company to carry out fraudulent recruitment operations. He disclosed that swindlers usually obtain telephone numbers through the authentication service on fraudulent websites. He added these unscrupulous individuals purchase telephone lines using someone’s data; stating they do not request for OTP, as they use the authentication service to steal.

Meanwhile, the annual report of the Kuwait Anti-Corruption Authority (Nazaha) revealed that it approved 16 out of 56 protection requests it has received since inception until the end of March; clarifying the law on its establishment and the executive regulations do not apply to the 40 rejected requests.

The report -- covering the period from April 1, 2023, to March 31, 2024 -- revealed that the approved protection requests include two requests for legal protection, as well as seven requests for administrative and job protection. It added that nine of the rejected protection requests were due to the lack of connection between the justifications for providing protection and the role of whistle-blowers in combating corruption or their reports registered in Nazaha or other concerned authorities.