A word of caution for female tourists visiting Egypt: be careful of the many of the men working in tourist areas in Egypt.
Although the vast majority of Egyptians have a high sense of honor and good conduct, it seems that tourist areas seem to attract a relatively high concentration of people with lax morals, who would exploit tourists in many ways. It can manifest itself as persistent aggressive begging, peddling cheap goods, charging 10X the normal prices for services and goods, and what this article focuses on: exploiting female tourists.
Looking at the bulk of the comments on my notes on compulsory army service in egypt they are mostly from non-Egyptian women who married (or intend to marry) an Egyptian man, and army service has become an obstacle.
So, once you here the word "habibti" (meaning "my love" in Arabic), and before you call him "Habibi", let alone go down the marriage route, read on below for more information.
The exploitation happens in many forms, but is normally centered around one of the following:
Easy and Free Sex
Many tourists come from countries where sex is more freely practiced outside of marriage. Youn g Egyptian men working in tourist areas who
are not married see this as an opportunity, and are met with acceptance from the female tourists.
A source for Money
Many Egyptian men who practice this scam view the "wealthy" tourist as a source of income. They keep asking their "girl friend", "fiance" or "wife" for money for various excuses, just like a professional scammer would play a confidence game on a victim.
An Opporunity for Immigration
Some of those men want to get out of Egypt, and see their marriage as a way to gain residence and citizenship in a Western country. The economy in Egypt has been stagnant for decades, and poverty, lack of opportunity and the high cost of marriage lures some youth to trying these tricks.
Why it works?
There are several factors that work in favor of the Egyptian scammers here.
One factor that helps is that most Egyptian men look desirable to Western women, being of darker complexion than their compatriots. The fact that the foreigners are white blonds work in making the women attractive and desirable for Egyptian men.
Another factor is that the woman is coming to the tourist place to have a good time. It may be a break from stressful work or study, or perhaps a past relationship. This helps blind her to what is happening.
Yet another factor is the cultural differences which also create temporary blindness.
Moreover, those workers being away from their village or city of origin, where they would be observed by their extended family and friends tend to make it easier for them to engage in sexual relationships and scams without being scrutinized by acquaintenaces, and no stigma is attached to these behaviors.
Finally, the scammers have perfected their techniques over the years, and are very skillful at what they do.
Blacklists
Blacklists have emerged on the internet, to warn potential female tourists from known exploiters. These have all the faults of user contributed content on the internet in that they can be innacurate, biased, or even rigged by rivals or pranksters. However, in the absence of any other information, they can be useful, provided they are taken with a good deal of skepticism and research and common sense applied.
- An overview article on what a "black list" is, at Arabia.pl.
- Dezy House: Blacklist for Hurghada, in English.
- Dezy House: Blacklist for Sharm El Sheikh, in English.
- Wanted List of Egypt.
- Egyptian Blacklist on Topix.
- KunstKamera blacklist.
Happens everywhere, not only Egypt
Before someone gets the impression that Egypt is a cesspool, and Egyptians are crooks, let me say it is neither.
The problem above is not limited to Egypt by any means. Any country where tourists come in to spend money has its share of exploiters. The above black lists have a Turkish one, and a Tunisian one, and there are lots of stories about French, Italian and Spanish men exploiting women tourists as well.
Of course, there is also the Russian bride fraud targeting well to do men in the West.
So, the problem is universal, although this article focuses on female tourists to Egypt.
Final Thoughts
There are many non-Egyptian women married to Egyptian men happily, so over-generalizing from the cases mentioned, or from workers at tourist resort is wrong. Chances are you will be happy with an Egyptian as a husband if you met him in a more natural settings, e.g. while studying or working, and getting to meet his family as well.
The "artificial" environment in resorts, being on holiday, and surrounded by some scammers lend itself to the disasters described.
So, beware ...
Further Reading
- Marwa Rakha: Relationship Warning: Do not get involved with Egyptian Men (also here).
- Global Voices: "Beware of Egyptian Men" says Canadian Embassy, also by Marwa Rakha.
- Trailing Grouse: Egyptian men marrying women for money.
- Yahoo Answers: Egyptian Men marrying foreign women to get out from Egypt.
- Sex, Sun, Stupidity and Gigolos.
- Amy Robson: n English girl who keeps falling in false love with Egyptian men (she finally returned to Britain).
- Someone searching on KunstKamera: for Honest Egyptian Boys?
- List if sites on Romance Fraud in German, and other languages.
- A movie documentary in the making on holiday romance, specially Hurghada.
- Female Sex Tourism on Wikipedia, has lots of links to extensive articles. While Turkey is listed as a major destination, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco are listed as "minor destinations".
- An article from a Canadian perspective: Sex tourism in full boom. Jamaica, Barbados, Dominican Republic and the Caribbean are the major destination for Canadian women.
Comments
victim Daniela (not verified)
Wendy, check my entire story
Thu, 2012/05/31 - 06:41Wendy,
check my entire story run over 2 years which i losing less than 22000 euros and i have proof, acts, etc.. for half of this money; end of the story
Anonymous (not verified)
Question for Isis
Sun, 2012/05/27 - 17:21You seem to troll any thread anywhere online that discusses Egyptian men and put yourself out as the expert above everyone else. I don't buy it. Can you explain to us how your oh-so-honest husband feels about the fact that you only spend half the year with him? I mean come on, if anyone's husband has another or two or three on the side, it is yours! No respectable Egyptian man would put up with a real wife abandoning him half the year every year.
Isis (not verified)
???
Sun, 2012/06/03 - 23:53Why do you feel that I only spend half of the year with my Egyptian husband? Your comments are completely off the mark and off topic. Your questioning does however make an interesting sub-topic for my research papers.
Anonymous (not verified)
Welcome back Sally?
Fri, 2012/06/08 - 10:31The 'attack' on Isis seemed a little out of the blue? Unless of course it is connected to a precious post, only this time incognito . . my initial thought was welcome back Sally?
tito (not verified)
hello
Mon, 2012/05/28 - 20:50Alpha
I think that foreign tourists are from allows a man to do so
Because most tourists are from want to have sex with the young Egyptian
Egypt Muslim country and Islam prohibits sexual intercourse and who knows
Islam knows this very well
His Lady (not verified)
Ive posted here before about
Thu, 2012/05/31 - 19:32Ive posted here before about my egyptian partner, who is over here in britain now studying computer science..he is younger than me and we met on facebook, i was friends with one of his friends, when he sent me a friends request..i went twice to egypt to meet him, staying in his home town of tanta in a flat that he hired and paid for...he is a muslim, but does not love his faith, he hides this from his parents and friends..they do not know about me..now he is here in britain, he decided to try to come to britain to study so we could be together, if he had been denied a visa, i would have gone there...we have our own place now and he wants to get married, even though he doesnt follow his faith, he was brought up to believe, that to live together you should be married, it doesnt feel right to him to be the way we are now..it does worry me that he is using me..as at the moment i pay the rent...food and other bills...now that uni has finished forthe summer he will hopefully find work and be able to start putting money aside for next years uni fees..i do have a constant voice in my head saying..hes just using you..but then i think of all the things he has shared with me,, his relationship with his father, his time in the army and how hard it was and other personal things...he wraps me in his arms and holds me as if hes never going to let me go..(my poor ribs) so maybe just maybe my yasser is honest and true and that we will have a happy life together with the odd argument along the way....
stronggirl (not verified)
Scammed and lied to by Abou ( Hajaj ), taxi driver in Luxor.
Wed, 2012/06/06 - 09:40Hi there,
Reading this website is so sad and sickening. I cant believe I also fell victim to one of these scamming taxi driver/caleche drivers whilst on holiday in Luxor. It has left me feeling very disillusioned and depressed. His name was Abou,although his real name is Hajaj. He is 31 years of age, very tall and slim with a glasses and a moustache. He works outside the Sonesta hotel and the Steigenberger as well. He has a very modern, large Kia vehicle. He also drives a caleche. I fell for his personality and genuinely thought we had a connection and that he was a good soul. But he lied to me and I beleived he has scammed me. He is married to an Egyptian woman and has children. i have been told he is also married to an older English woman who has bought him is lovely car and is helping him build an apartment. My story is too long and complicated to go into here and is very personal as well, but I was in a pretty vulnerable place emotionally when I met him and I cant beleive someone would be so cruel. I didnt lose that much money, but it was a lot to me but psychologically I feel very hurt and confused.
I love travelling alone and enjoy exploring the world and I feel very privaleged that I am able to. but I dont earn a lot of money and work so many hours to pay for my trips away. I feel very angry that this man knew I wasnt rich and that I had been through a very tough time personally but then persuade me to come back to see him and then steal from me. I made a pact with myself that I would do everything I could to stop him doing this to anyone else, female or male? Its nasty and just not right. This abuse against innocent Western people, in Egypt has now reached epidemic proportions and somethind needs to be done.
Thank Khalid for highlighting this issue in your blog and if youre interested in talking with me further I may well be prepared to do that.
if anyone else reading this knows this man, or anything else about him..... please let me know. Ive also put his photo and his details on Liars, cheats, bastards.com
thanks everyone
tarnya (not verified)
scammed by abu
Wed, 2015/02/18 - 19:26Hi i read ur story about Abu(this is right spelling My liein stealing cheating husband. Could we talk more if u are up to it. I saw ur story on another wedsite and tryed u but with no answer,i just had a reply from this lady claiming to be his only wife making out we were all wrong about Abu this is not the case, Hajag is one of his surmanes as he has father grandfather n great grandfather after that.Look forward to hearing from u
Anonymous (not verified)
I was also in love with one
Sat, 2012/06/09 - 08:01I was also in love with one Egypt of Sharm. Later I read in the internet different stories about him. I never believed that he could be a cheater. But he is...I am not old and ugly- I am young and pretty.I am kind and unfortunately naive. Therefore I found a cheater.Now I think, don´t trust in any Egipt of the tourists areas. They just USE WOMAN and manipulate them. It is a very different culture from the European. Don´t believe, you would understand their culture. They behave like Europeans but I think it´s just a show to convince you. Keep care, there is a lot of AIDS and other diseases in the holiday-resorts.
Anonymous (not verified)
Isis...do you know this man from Luxor?
Sat, 2012/06/09 - 11:09Isis, do you know someone in Luxor called Emad. I know he is a friend of the 'good looking' Hany of previous posts. He is a Coptic also, I believe he worked at the Nile and Sonnesta in the health club as sales guy or even masseur. He's well built, quite dark in complexion, curly hair. I know he was working at the Steingberger Nile in April 2010 in same department as Hany.
Pages