Over half of people living in Saudi Arabia got scam calls or communications, according to survey results released by the King Abdul Aziz Center for National Dialogue this week.
Just over 1,000 Saudi Arabians participated in the survey that found that 62 percent got scam calls and communications, with 28 percent saying the scam attempt was related to a prior digital transaction, delivery service, online purchase, or card payment. Fourteen percent admitted that they fell for the phone or online scam and lost money.
Just over 50 percent said as a result they altered their lifestyle, 16 percent reported a disruption to savings plans, and 31 percent said they had to stop buying certain items.
The survey found that in 72 percent of cases scammers impersonated banks, while 18 percent of the time they mimicked police, and 10 percent of the time they claimed to be delivery service people.
Further, 58 percent reported knowing of acquaintances or relatives who were victims of a scam or a scam attempt via phone, online, or other digital means. Forty-three percent have acquaintances who lost money to scammers by phone or online and other digital means.
Earlier this month, the Saudi Central Bank (Sama) took action to protect consumers from financial fraud. Sama said the measures were “rolled out after observing a notable increase in the number of fraudulent websites and social media accounts, and a persistent recurrence of financial fraud incidents such as social engineering scams,” a statement from the bank’s website said.
The central bank suspended some services, including remote account opening, and it set a limit of SAR60,000 on daily transactions for individual and individual enterprises.
