The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, TRA, today launched the "Don’t Be Deceived" campaign, to educate customers in general, and youth in particular, about the different ways of deception and fraud on smart devices and various modern technologies.

The campaign, which was launched during a press conference at the Emirates Towers in Dubai, intends to raise awareness of deception and fraud via smart devices. This includes cyber blackmail, spam SMS and phone calls, and malware, in which the attacker attempts to steal the user's data, break their privacy, and steal their money. Such actions cause significant losses for individuals, institutions and nations, as electronic fraud has become one of the most common methods of attack and penetration.

Mohammed Gheyath, Executive Director Information Security Regulatory Affairs at TRA, said that the campaign was deliberately launched to spread the message to all targeted segments of society, according to the most appropriate method. "We have held a special workshop for children and adolescents, as well as the innovative awareness workshop ‘Virus Attack’, in which children learn the principles of safe and positive interaction with electronic devices and social media," he added.

The workshop included four main topics, cyber blackmail, phishing emails sent to victims containing infected links or files, protection of social media networks, and spam calls.