This year’s Haj was conducted without major incident. No outbreak of disease, no stampedes, no fires marred the event. It was not without some problems, even though the Saudi government took measure to try to avoid them. Here, Arab News reports on the activities of swindlers who deceived pilgrims coming from within Saudi Arabia.

Swindlers prey on pilgrims — New cases of fake Haj firms come to light
Badea Abu Al-Naja | Arab News

MAKKAH: While the government was busy mobilizing manpower to facilitate a smooth Haj, some people were busy cheating aspiring domestic pilgrims by establishing fake branches of reputable Haj companies in far flung areas of the Kingdom. These companies, which operated without official licenses and without the permission of the companies they claim to represent, disappeared without trace a couple of days before Haj once they have people’s money.

Fahd Ammash, who lives in a remote village in the Makkah province, paid SR3,000 to one such fraudster. “I visited a Haj group office in my village. There was a big sign outside the office saying it was a branch of a reputable company in Jeddah. The fee was SR3,000 for accommodation and transportation in Mina. It was only later that I discovered the permits given to me were fake.”

Ammash said he knew several people who have been victims of such companies. “These organizations start operating on a large scale in the runup to Haj,” he said. “They operate in far flung areas where the authorities cannot monitor them.”
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