The Ministry of Interior has issued a warning to the public about the increasing number of con artists posing as bank officials who have been trying to rob people of their hard-earned cash. The ministry issued the warning after receiving complaints from citizens and expatriates that they have been receiving phone calls from unidentified persons pretending that they are bank officials. The “officials” try to get people to reveal their ATM card personal identification numbers (PIN) and other information over the telephone, by saying they need to update their bank information, said the ministry in a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Wednesday. Other bogus calls include claims that people have won valuable financial prizes and that their account numbers are needed to deposit the cash. The ministry said that some citizens and expatriates have fallen victim to some of these callers. It said that such incidents were on the rise despite the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) informing the public about such scams. The ministry called on the public not to respond to these calls and not to reveal any confidential financial information, including secret PIN numbers or other personal data.
