Saudi Arabia Travel Guide
Be aware of hajj fraud
Going on Hajj is one of the most spiritual and rewarding experiences in someone’s life. Every year millions of people from around the world travel to Makkah to perform hajj. From the UK alone, there is about 20,000 to 25,000 pilgrims travel every year. This number does not include ‘umrah haj travellers who travel throughout the year. If umra figure is included here, surely this number will be lot higher.
Hajj packages are sold by licensed travel companies who are approved by the Saudi Ministry of Haj and ‘Umra. However, pilgrims should be aware that sometime unlicensed rogue travel companies operate in the community. Their prime target is to exploit potential pilgrims.
Hajj fraud is not an old phenomenon – it is not something that used to happen in the past and does not happen anymore. It happens and it will happen again as long as criminals remain in the society. It is an ugly reality of life. If you open a news paper, you will find, if not here, some parts of the world someone has been victim of hajj fraud. In the last few years, a number of hajj fraud cases reported in the British media. In April 2015, the Police raided Bogus Hajj Mecca pilgrimage firms in Tameside, while in the same year a Bolton man was charged over Hajj holiday fraud.
In response to potential threat of hajj fraud to Muslim community in the UK, the City of London Police launched a national Hajj fraud prevention campaign in 2015. The aim of this campaign was and still is to raise awareness amongst Muslim about hajj fraud and also to facilitate them to report if they are victim of hajj fraud. Read more