Several expatriates in Saudi Arabia have reportedly fallen victim to a financial scam in which fraudsters impersonated officials from the Ministry of Interior to obtain One-Time Passwords (OTPs), resulting in losses worth thousands of riyals.
Among the victims are two expatriate nurses from Kerala working at a private clinic in Abha, along with other expatriates in different parts of the Kingdom who were targeted using a similar method.
According to the victims, the scammers called them claiming to represent the Ministry of Interior and said the verification was part of an official procedure. They reportedly spoke in a threatening manner and made repeated phone calls to pressure victims into sharing their OTPs.
Believing the calls were genuine, several victims disclosed their OTPs without verifying the authenticity of the requests.
The fraudsters then allegedly used the stolen OTPs to make purchases worth more than SAR 10,000 through online shopping platforms such as Noon and Buy Now, Pay Later services including Tamara and Tabby.
Reports indicate that the purchased items were collected directly by the scammers. Similar incidents have reportedly affected expatriates in several regions across Saudi Arabia.
Cybersecurity experts have again warned residents never to share bank verification codes, OTPs, Nafath approval requests, or Absher authentication requests with anyone over the phone, regardless of the reason.
Authorities have repeatedly emphasized that Saudi government agencies and banks do not request confidential information such as OTPs or authentication approvals through phone calls.
Anyone who falls victim to such fraud is advised to immediately contact their bank, inform the relevant service providers, and report the incident to the police to help prevent further financial losses.
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