Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The Ministry of Commerce clarified that the submission of commercial communications, including fraud notification, can be made only through its Balagh Tijari App or unified number 1900. The ministry stated that it has assigned neither any other entities nor any websites to undertake this mission, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The ministry’s clarification came after its monitoring of new fraudulent means from the part of some websites claiming to have specialized in dealing with commercial communications. The ministry cautioned consumers against dealing with bogus websites and those people who impersonate the ministry and cheat consumers after obtaining their personal credentials and data by fraudulent means.

The ministry stated that it has monitored a number of fraud cases in which consumers have fallen prey to fraudsters as a result of sharing of their personal credentials and data with fake and forged sites. These sites were claiming to have links with the ministry.

They also ask to provide personal information on fake sites or share information on communication sites, or respond to communications from outside the Kingdom. They adopt fraudulent methods to obtain confidential information such as: bank account number, passwords and personal credentials, or OTP verification codes.

The ministry warned against providing any party with such confidential data. It warned consumers against dealing with any fake links in search engines that lead the consumer to fake pages that take advantage of the ministry’s identity.

The ministry emphasized that it never asks for account numbers or ATM cards, or passwords and verification codes from consumers. The ministry stated that it receives communications only through its approved channels, which are the ministry’s unified phone number 1900 and the Balagh Tijari application (https://mc.gov.sa/C-app).