Dubai utility provider Dewa warns against phishing scam

Credit card information at risk from clicking on fake emails

Dewa urges customers to be cautious about unsolicited email and social media messages. Christopher Pike / Bloomberg

Customers of Dubai Electric and Water Authority have received a warning about phishing scams after reports of fraudulent messages sent by social media and email.

Bogus messages asking people to pay their bills, answer questions or forward on the messages to friends to be in with a chance of winning a prize prompted Dewa to issue advice to all its customers.

“Dewa urges customers and society members to avoid opening attachments from unofficial sources or clicking on unknown links,” an email sent to all customers read.

“This may enable hackers to access your personal information, including your credit cards.”

Bill payments and any correspondence should only be made by trusted channels, the official Dewa website and its verified social media accounts, the advice said.

Phishing scams and ransomware attacks have been on the rise since the coronavirus pandemic began as more people used home computers without adequate security software.

A 2020 report by computer security analysts Kaspersky recorded more than 600,000 phishing attacks at the height of the pandemic in the UAE alone.

The company said that from April to June that year 2.57 million phishing attempts were reported in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, New York based researchers Cybersecurity Ventures predicted cyber criminals would target a business, consumer or device every two seconds by 2031 as threats continue to rise and nations migrate towards digital economies.