DUBAI: Bank Muscat, the main victim of a $45m global cyber heist, is examining all options to recover the money it lost in an unprecedented fraud brought to light by US authorities.
The Omani lender reported in February that its pre-paid travel cards were hit by fraud, forcing it to take a OR15m ($39m) loss provision.
“Bank Muscat is aware from press reports that a number of arrests in different jurisdictions have taken place in relation to the prepaid debit card fraud incident which we disclosed on February 25 and 26,” it said in a brief statement to the stock exchange yesterday.
“We reiterate that we are exploring all avenues of recovery so as to protect shareholder interests and will advise the markets accordingly if there are any material developments in this regard.”
It gave no additional information in the statement on the measures taken to recover the funds.
The other bank involved hit by the cyber attack, National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah (RAKBANK), said on Friday that none of its customers had lost any money as a result of a cyber fraud which resulted in a loss at the Gulf bank in 2012. Reuters
