Riyadh, Sha'ban 21, 1438, May 17, 2017, SPA -- The Ministry of the Interior has warned Saudi citizens inside the Kingdom of false contacts from unknown persons from outside the Kingdom showing them the number of the Saudi Embassy in Washington (202-342-3800) or the number of the Attaché Office (703-573-7226), pointing out that these contacts include requests for transfer of considerable funds in exchange for the attestation of scientific certificates obtained through their studies online from US universities. Director of Interior Ministry's General Department for Public Relations and Media, Major General Dr. Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Maraoul said that the Ministry received a cable from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that the Saudi Embassy in Washington reported on 29/7/1438 H (25/04/2017 G) that it had received many contacts from Saudi citizens inside the Kingdom stating that they had received anonymous contacts including requests to transfer large sums of money in exchange for the attestation of scientific certificates obtained through their online studies from American universities and that in case of their abstention, they are threatened to inform the Ministry of the Interior of their names that these certificates are unknown and their sources are not recognized. The Saudi Embassy indicated that it investigated the matter and found that these calls were not made by the Embassy or the Cultural Attaché office, despite the appearance of their telephone numbers, which confirmed that these persons were using telephone applications for the purpose of fraud and getting funds illegally. The Embassy also said that it informed the Cultural Attaché office to warn all Saudi students on scholarships not to answer such contacts to avoid falling into the trap of these anonymous persons. --SPA 13:22 LOCAL TIME 10:22 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w406177