A very important and "Must" read advice for New comers to Oman.

Hello to all.

I had been called for a help and assistance last night by one of my Canadian neighbors (Couple and a father) who have recently moved to Oman. The father purchased a new sim and within 2 days, received a "Fake" call from an individual, claiming the same old "Omantel prize" scam technique of winning 100K Omani rials. He, without consulting anyone followed everything what the caller said and then transacted 15000 OMR to the account which was asked by the fake caller in terms of some deposit. The amount was transferred and as usual, the number afterwards got switched off and following up with the Bank Muscat, refused to give the account beneficiary details as per their regular policy. They then approached ROP, however the ROP routed them to public prosecution where they were not treated too well (As they are so new to Gulf and don't know how to tackle the ROP officials). Anyway, cutting the story short, the family was much depressed. They had called me to ask for an assistance and I will see now how could I help them (Which seems quite not possible).

My advice to all, especially the new comers, Please & please, don't ever provide your personal financial information to anyone, no matter how much the source is trusted. Your financial records belong to you only and only your personal bank or your employer's finance department could intervene in the same (Noone else). Please be careful of the scam calls, claiming for winning a prize money, a car, or whatever it may be. Don't act over smart, act wisely and in any such condition, where you're not sure of what to do, please ask for an assistance from someone who knows the things.