RIYADH: Saudi Arabian Oil Co. says it foiled a fraud attempt involving scammers pretending to work for India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation after a newspaper report claimed the kingdom's oil firm was the victim of a massive cybercrime.

A statement by Saudi Aramco said the fraud involved a fake money transfer, without elaborating.

The statement, carried Sunday night on the official Saudi Press Agency, said: “The aborted attempt did not financially affect any of the two companies or their commercial relations.”

The statement comes after an Indian Express newspaper report last week claimed that Saudi Aramco paid out Rs1.97 billion ($30.3 million) to fraudsters who faked an email address at the Oil and Natural Gas Corp.

The Indian Express report cited Mumbai police officers for its information.