Extortion at the Treasury, the women who fall victim to Petra’s Bedouin romance scam
With his dark kohl-rimmed eyes, chiselled cheekbones and wild hair bound by a black headscarf, it’s easy to see why women fall for Ahmed Alfaqeer.
The look, which resembles Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, is popular among young men in Petra, who tell tourists that the actor based his look on them.
But Mr Alfaqeer’s picture, featured on a Facebook group set up to avenge jilted lovers, comes with a warning to women visiting Jordan’s most famous attraction: steer clear of him and others like him because they seduce foreigners for financial gain.
“When a beautiful tourist girl walked by in Petra they were like tigers – who could get her fooled into believing their lines,” said Mary Smith, who runs the Facebook group “Stop the Petra Bedouin Women Scammers”.
Tourists travel to Petra dreaming of adventure in the hidden desert city. But some women also believe they find love, only for the mirage to dissolve into a nightmare, leaving them broken-hearted or even blackmailed or assaulted.
Ms Smith said between five and 10 victims contact her each week via Facebook, one of several social media platforms set up to expose fraudulent love affairs in Petra.
The stories catalogue the hurt of women who handed over hundreds or even thousands of dollars, only to realise the romance was all a sham.
“Girls have been trying for more than 10 years to warn others on tourist sites like TripAdvisor and Visit Jordan, but every time they commented on the problems, their posts were deleted,” Ms Smith said.
She estimated that about 50 men operate around Petra and a further 10 in nearby Wadi Rum, another tourist attraction.
“The government, the Jordanian people, the tourist police, the travel companies – everyone knows about the scamming, but Petra is one of the new seven wonders of the world and that means tourists and money,” Ms Smith said.
It is a fairy tale setting where women tourists often find themselves wooed by flattery and invitations to dine in candlelit caves.
Skype calls maintain contact after they return home, and promises of marriage often follow. Only later do sob stories of sick relatives and dead donkeys start, accompanied by pleas to borrow money.
One woman was asked to lend her boyfriend’s acquaintance US$5,000 (Dh18,362) to fund his election campaign.
Maria, a European woman in her thirties, visited Petra in July last year. She uses a pseudonym out of fear of repercussions.
Five days after arriving to start a job in Amman, she took the bus to Petra, eager to see the storied caves and temples from the fourth century BC.
Walking through the gorge that marks the spectacular entrance to the ancient site, she tried to sidestep young men calling out offers of free tours.
“I said no until I was so tired, and they were so funny, that
He kept insisting he would pay it back ... he was sweet and persistent and I had feelings for him MARIA Victim of Ahmed Alfaqeer
finally I allowed one of them to accompany me,” she said.
That was when she met Mr Alfaqeer, a Bedouin in his twenties. The tour led to a coffee and then dinner. She stayed with him for two days.
He entranced her with tales of his childhood in the desert and for the next three weekends she returned, introduced to his family as his girlfriend, or even his wife. When he asked for 1,000 Jordanian dinars (Dh5,173) she was dubious but lent him 1,850.
“He kept insisting he would pay it back after he started working. I finally believed him because he was sweet and persistent and I had feelings for him,” she said.
Lawyer Emad Hammudi has acted for four women seeking redress against men for money, and in some cases, sexual harassment.
He described the men as manipulative seducers but said the women were often afraid to stay in Jordan long enough to see a trial through.
Some women have issued more serious allegations, including sexual assault and rape. But charges are often dropped or convictions fail due to lack of evidence.
After Maria handed over the rest of the money, Mr Alfaqeer became more possessive.
He forced her to share the passwords for her phone and social media accounts, copying her contact list and turning violent, she said. This led to blackmail and she took evidence to the police.
“The police believed me,” she said, but Mr Alfaqeer only spent a week in jail. He denies being part of a scam.
Capt Talal of Petra Tourism Police said: “If there’s any problem we can deal with it but in general not many cases happen inside Petra.”
Local authorities say there are “severe consequences” for perpetrators if criminal activity can be proved.
“We try our best to limit it,” said Mahmoud Freihat, area marketing manager at Jordan Tourism Board. “But the implementation of the law can get quite tricky. How can you prove it?”
Many locals are critical of the men. “Nobody likes it, it’s really not nice,” said Eid Al Hasanat, who runs a guesthouse in Wadi Musa. “It reflects badly on the whole community.”
Charlotte, a woman in her 40s who visited Jordan in 2015 to study Arabic, had an encounter with Rashid, a “much younger” Bedouin man. She said she was pressured into giving him money.
Rashid denied being part of a scam. He told The National he had relationships with three foreign women but denied asking for money.
In an email to Rashid in October, Charlotte said: “You hit me, spit on me, insulted me, lied to me, cheated on me. Now, finally, I know that you never had love for me. I admit I was a fool, but I was in love.”