I’ve seen a few comments over the past few months when it comes to dealing with a scammer. More specifically it seems a lot of people seem to be caught up with the romance scam in Morocco. For those of you who haven’t read my article on avoiding the scammers should check it out here. The intention of my original article was to prevent people from getting into the situation. Unfortunately, a lot of people are oblivious to the fact that they are dealing with a scammer until it’s too late. What I’m going to do is list some of the things you can do if you feel like you have been scammed. Please understand, when dealing with a scammer every situation is different. Some of the techniques I will share will work in certain scenarios and in some scenarios every technique will not work. I am just listing the best practices you should follow after dealing with a scammer.
For those of you who have been scammed. I really am truly sorry. I know what you are going through. I really hope that this article helps you. Let’s start by summarizing what exactly is a scammer.
What is a scammer?
A scammer is a person who commits fraud towards another person. In other words, the scammer will present a situation in which they convince the other party to be true when in fact, the situation is really false. In Morocco, you will find all the different types of scams when dealing with a scammer. The majority of scammers have the intention to make the victim part away from their money. There are other scams where the money is not involved. Such examples from Morocco could be a scam where someone feigns interest in another person so that they could leave the country. Another scam would be someone who pretends to want a friendship with another person so that they could practice English with another. Once the scammer masters the English language they soon stop speaking with their victim. There are also scams that are so common that they are not even considered scams. We will look at all of these types of scams below. You might be curious as to why I know so much about dealing with scammers. Well besides speaking with friends in Morocco, I too have been scammed romantically. Here is my story.
Storytime dealing with a scammer
Before I begin, I just want to thank all of the people who were brave enough to share their stories. This is truly an embarrassing situation for anyone involve and your courage brings awareness to the problem, which is one of the solutions to dealing with a scammer.
My story begins 8 years ago. I was recently divorced and was ready to meet someone new. Being married for so long, it was difficult for me to go out and even talk to people. This was a new problem for me. When I was 20. If I broke up with a girlfriend, I would simply go out with my friends, and eventually, I would meet another girl. When I divorced I was in my 30’s. All my friends were married and honestly, we stopped partying a long time ago. I felt alone in the world. I came across dating sites and started to use them only to fill my lonely time. I met a lot of scammers on these sites (maybe I’ll write another article on dating sites). My intention was just to talk to girls on these sites as a way of building my confidence again.
One day I friend requested a girl, I thought was attractive. She accepted and we exchanged skype id’s (this was before WhatsApp). We soon began talking every day, until the point where I really started having feelings for this girl. I professed these feelings and she told me that I had to come to see her. I booked my ticket to go to Morocco in March and met her and spent 6 amazing days with her taking me around Marrakech and other cities. By the end of my vacation, I knew I wanted to see her again.
When I returned home, things started to slowly change. Within a few weeks, she told me that she had to travel to another country for work. After that, I didn’t hear from her for a month. When she finally contacted me, she told me she couldn’t speak because of work. After this, she would contact me every few days or so. She then told me she had work again but this time it was in Casablanca. She would only contact me once a week. During this time my confidence started to grow. I was still dedicated to this Moroccan woman but I was able to talk to girls. In September of that year, a few girls started to show interest in me but I was still talking to the Moroccan woman. Speaking to her for only an hour every week was becoming difficult, especially when there were other options for me. I told her about my other options and that I needed to know if this relationship was going somewhere. We both agreed to meet again.
A week before going to Morocco, I was on Facebook. I never really thought of speaking to her on Facebook but I wondered why never communicated on Facebook. The next time we spoke, we got into an argument as to why I wasn’t on her Facebook. Her reason was that she didn’t have guys as friends on her Facebook. I dropped it as I realized I asked to be friends with her on Facebook before. After my second trip to Morocco. I asked if she would marry me. She said yes. This is where things started to get worse.
When I returned home, she told me she and her friends were going on a trip to Turkey. Once again, I barely spoke to her even though we were engaged. One morning she randomly texted me saying that she missed her flight back to Morocco and she needed money to return home. I told her to speak to the airline and ask if they could help her. She messaged me saying they would help. I sent the money thinking that she would be home in a few days. She stopped talking and returned home after two weeks.
Once she was home she started messaging me every day. We spoke about our wedding most of the time. I didn’t realize back then but she would often speak about how many things I needed to buy and give her. One of the things she mentioned was that she should get $10000 from me as a wedding gift. At this point in time, I was traveling to Morocco twice a year to see her. Unfortunately, even when I came to see her I wouldn’t see her every day. If I came for 7 days, would maybe see her 4 or 5 times during those days.
Sometime in the summer, she started working again and I would only speak with her once a week. One day her friend contacted me and told me that I needed to help her. She went to say that her work was too demanding and that it was difficult for her. Feeling sorry for her, I told her that I would send some money every month to help her out. We started to talk again every day and set a date for the wedding in September.
Sometime in July, she said September was a bad month and I should come in January. I wasn’t happy about this as I had to make arrangements at work to get 3 weeks off and now I had to change the date. Nonetheless, I made the changes. Before I came she made sure I send her the $10000.
Once I went to Morocco, in the 3 weeks, I maybe saw her 3 days a week. I remember having to travel to Rabat alone, having to complete the administration portion of the marriage which was difficult being a foreigner. I eventually completed everything in Rabat and when I returned to Marrakech, it seemed that they would not accept my documentation. She had told me that they would need at least another week past my vacation to complete everything. I made arrangements and was able to get the additional week. When I told her, she went to the court to ask again. This time they told her it would take another month. At this point, I couldn’t stay longer. I left Morocco, feeling defeated as I was not able to marry her.
A few months after I returned, she called me saying that her phone was stolen and she had no way to contact me. I spent the next several months not speaking with her. Finally, I emailed her, letting her know that I would be taking a month to come to Morocco to marry her. She contacted me within a few hours saying that this was not a good idea. She needed time to get things in order. I found it strange that she found a way to contact me now and I was getting tired of the excuses.
We started speaking every few days for a few months until one day she told me she was going on vacation to Bahrain. I got angry as I told her when I wanted to come to Morroco you told me you needed time to things in order but you had time to go on vacation. She in return got angry, saying expected me to pay for her ticket and give her spending money. She left for Bahrain and returned 6 weeks later. She then messaged me breaking up with me. In the end, she kept the money. It took me 4 years to realize that I was dealing with a scammer.
Why is it so common
When dealing with a scammer. I’ve often asked myself this question a lot. I couldn’t possibly scam someone and feel good about it. I really want to understand what the other person is thinking. I believe that the reasons are the following.
Poverty
Almost every Moroccan scammer will claim that they as well as the entire Moroccan population is extremely poor. There is a notion that people from outside Morocco are extremely rich. They assume that money that is being scammed is nothing for a foreigner so there is no harm While it may be true that others make more money, what I found is that those people have to work a lot harder. What Moroccans may not also take into account is that the cost of living is much higher in other countries.
Greed
This is mostly connected with scammers who scam for money. When the scammer realizes how easy it is to scam someone, they continue to do so feeling that they found endless supply of money. Their greed will not stop them and they will continue to scam until the victim has had enough and then it’s off to find the next victim.
Laziness
Once the scammer starts collecting money, they soon find this an easy way to earn income. If they were to find a real job, it would be a lot hard and also pay a lot less. When faced with the choice between working a real job or just chatting on your phone while the victim is sending money or doing whatever the scammer desires, the scammer will choose the easier route.
Types of scams in dealing with a scammer
Here are some the popular types of scams when dealing with a scammer.
Romance Scam
This is probably the most famous scam in Morocco. The scenario is that the scammer approaches the victim online. The scammer will begin a relationship with the victim. Often times the end goal for the scammer is to leave the country, however relationship scammers could also try to get money from the victim. Unlike other relationship scams in other countries, Morocco relationship scammers will continue the scam for a longer period of time. The minimum is usually a few months. The scammer will make sure that contact with them is only done through certain means like a phone number or online platform. This is systematically done so that when they are ready to end the scam, the victim has no way of contacting the scammer again. Once the scammer has accomplished his/her goal they break off with the victim never to be heard from again.
Business scam
This is another scam where the scammer will try to befriend the victim. This could be online or meeting someone in Morocco. As most scammers they will give you the story that Moroccan people are poor and the life is so hard. They will also tell you that they have all these amazing ideas to make money. Once they feel that you have reached a level of comfort with them, they will then pose a business proposal where you send them money and they will create a business where you both share profits. In the end the person will not open any business and just take your money.
Sick scam
This is where the scammer tells you a sad story of one of their family members being very sick and needing money. What I found is that when the victim is a man, the scammer will tell you of their mother needing an operation. When the victim is a woman, they will speak about their kids being very sick and hungry. This scam is mostly done when the victim is in Morocco and is alone.
Child scam
I’ve never seen this scam before but people in Morocco have told me about it so I figure I should list it. The scam takes place usually in the madina, normally near the market. What will happen is a kid will try to play with you. It might be something as simple as the child kicking a small to you. If start playing with the child they will eventually lead within the old housing area. If you have never seen these housing area in the madina, they are basically a labyrinth of alleys that you will get lost if you continue travelling within it. Once lost a man will approach you and offer to lead out of this area for a fee.
Beggar scam
This is common in all parts of the world. This is where people who say they are poor ask for money. What people don’t in Morocco, particulary in Marrakech is that this is business. The majority of people who beg for money in Marrakech are working for someone who actually sends them to these locations. The business exists mostly to take money from people specifically tourists. If you are ever in Marrakech. Go to Gueliz, the fanciest part in Marrakech. Pull out a couple hundred dirhams and you will see people start to beg money from you. What’s strange is that there are police everywhere in Gueliz and they are told beggars shouldn’t be there but there still there.
Taxi scam
A very popular a common scam. In all my trips to Morocco over the past 8 years. I would say this scam happens 90% of the time. What happens is when you enter a taxi, the driver’s counter will be turned off. If you ask he will make some excuse saying that it’s broken or that they don’t need to use it. At the end of the ride, you will end up paying an amount maybe 10 times more than the real value.
Market scam
This is most common scam. People are usually surprised when I say that because they think the romance scam is the most common. The fact is that this scam is so common, that it is done to both Moroccans and tourists. The scam is so common that people within Morocco do not consider it a scam. The scam is basically done at the big markets. The vendors will not put a price on any item they are selling. When trying to determine a price on an item, they will tell you a number that is 3 times more than what they should be selling their product for.
What to do for each scam
Now that we have gone through some of the scams. Let’s look at some of the strategies. Most of these strategies will be preventative. I will try to offer some tips on what to do if you have been scammed. Unfortunately, when dealing with a scammer, once they get what they want, it’s almost impossible to get it back. Hopefully some of these tips help you in dealing with a scammer. I’ll list them from easiest to hardest.
- Market scam – If going to the market you should go with a Moroccan friend. They will have a better understanding of the value of the product and be better to negotiate on your behalf. If you already bought the item. You could ask your friend to return with you to try to renegotiate the price. You most likely will not get your money back but maybe the vendor will reduce the price of another product for you. If your alone and do not know any Moroccans, you can always use phrases like ghali bzaf (that’s too expensive), sawb tmn hssn 3afak (can you give me a better price), or na9s tmn shwea 3afak (can you lower the price please)
- Taxi scam – When entering the taxi, always tell the taxi driver to turn on his counter. If he refuses just leave the taxi and get another one. There isn’t much you can do if you already paid the taxi driver.
- Beggar scam – For beggars simply get the police. In places like Gueliz, police are everywhere so it shouldn’t be difficult. Once police are involved the beggars usually go away.
- Child scam – While it should be common knowledge not to follow a child into an alley if you find yourself in this situation try trace steps back. Sorry I don’t have more information on this but seriously why would you follow a child into an alley?
- Sick scam – Don’t ever give anyone money if you don’t know them. Remember when dealing with a scammer, they have constructed a story to play with your emotions. If they are insistent and will not leave you alone threaten to call the police. If you give them your money, you can try to tell the police but don’t expect much to be done as the police will ask why did you give the scammer money.
- Business scam – This is basically the same advice as above. Don’t give money to people you never met. Because most of these guys want to make these proposals online there will not be much you can do. If you have Moroccan friends they might be able to track these people to get your money back but the chances of that are slim.
- Romance Scam – If you follow my article on romance scams you should be ok. Let’s look at this from the point of view that the scammer has already scammed their victim. Dealing with a scammer is tough but it’s even worse in a romance scam because the victim is not only humiliated but is also heartbroken. If you have friends in Morocco, they can always approach this person on your behalf to get back any money that might have been taken. They could also make a report for you to the local authorities. Finally you should make a report to the site where you met the scammer. Let the site know exactly what happened. None of these things will retrieve your money or anything else the scammer took but it will stop the the scammer from using that site, will create a file for the police so any future scamming will be taken more seriously and finally it will scare the scammer as they know you have Moroccan friends
What not to do
Here are some things I do not recommend doing when dealing with a scammer.
- Confront the person – You may feel so angry that you want to confront the scammer. Most likely you will not find this person. The scammers usually only provide a few means of contacting them which can easily be disconnected. Even if you were able to find this person again, they would most likely live on the outskirts of the city in which could be very dangerous for you to travel to.
- Vilify the entire country of Morocco – I have seen a lot of people who have been scammed in Morocco, particularly in the romance scam. What ends up happening is that they go on every social media platform and create post after post claiming that Morocco is the worst place on earth and the people are purely evil. I can tell from experience from being in romance scam that not all Moroccans are like this. One thing about these people are most of them don’t even know any Moroccans but a willing to judge an entire country based on one scammer. Even if you have met someone romantically in Morocco, you should still be open to making friendships with Moroccans. You will see they are some of the nicest people in the world. If I didn’t believe this I would not end up remarrying with a Moroccan.