At a time when a number of substitute female teachers are awaiting formal appointments following the processing of their documents by education departments across the Kingdom, in addition to a large number of university graduates also looking for teaching jobs, a Civil Service Ministry official has warned against fraudulent text messages.

The official told the prospective teachers to be wary of responding to the bogus text messages which request for data and promise employment.

Abdul Aziz Al-Khonain, spokesman for the Civil Service Ministry, tweeted that persons claiming to be employees of the ministry send text messages to women graduates, or call them in person to hoodwink them into believing that they will be made a job offer on responding to the message.

He said that his ministry has the data for more than 300,000 Saudi female graduates. But he did not explain whether the ministry is working on regulations to limit fraudulent cases or reveal the identity of the victims.

Al-Khonain’s tweet drew the attention of female teachers awaiting job offers and others, critical of the ministry’s procedures of hiring female teachers.

He said on his Twitter account that the ministry is sifting through the data of college graduates and their applications, numbering 19,006 in total. He also advised that applicants who had fallen foul of the misleading messages should lodge a formal complaint to the authorities.