Many people over the past few years have fallen prey to the Umrah scam, losing hundreds of pounds on phoney Makkah travel plans. People are losing their life savings to Umrah booking scams and frauds. To promote their own dishonest transactions, organised crime syndicates went after legitimate travel businesses. The Umrah packages UK marketed by these criminal organisations were discounted by as much as fifty percent. Then, just before departure, the false tour operator disappears, leaving the victims to try to get their money back on their own. They take advantage of them financially, steal their credit card details, and ruin their chances of ever making Umrah. Online reservation-makers should exercise caution. Travelers should use caution while making internet bookings for the Umrah or any other trip. Muslims in the Birmingham area can rejoice to learn that travel packages from the United Kingdom that include the Umrah are now available.
You can lessen your chances of becoming a victim by taking these measures:
Be wary of bogus Umrah booking sites:
Most of these pricey scams may be traced back to the proliferation of phoney travel websites. These sites offer bogus travel services, including plane tickets, Umrah packages, hotel rooms, and car rentals. The quality and sophistication of these phoney online platforms continues to rise. Connecting via a top-level domain ensures that users can verify the site's authenticity. Cheapsixenses.com is obviously a fraudulent version of the legitimate luxury site sixsenses.com.
A licenced tour operator by the Saudi embassy:
Doing some background study on the firm and the travel agent will help you avoid falling victim to fraud or scams. Never be the first to jump on a good or cheap offer. The Saudi Embassy must officially endorse your travel agency. You can't put your faith in a personal reference from someone you know to be honest.
Get a written copy of the rules:
Make sure you and your Hajj umrah travel agency put everything, including the terms of your contract, in writing. Verify that you have a valid visa, lodging arrangements, and Umrah flight details from the company. Many Muslims have their hopes for performing the Umrah dashed each year by con artists. The Muslim community is now collaborating with the NFIB to catch these con artists. Victims should report this scam to the authorities so that their fellow Muslims can be protected.
Check that your passport and visas are valid:
Verify that your visas are real and that your passport has at least six months left of validity before it expires. Increasing numbers of phoney electronic visa websites mean pilgrims need to verify the legitimacy of theirs. It's possible that any website claiming to provide instant or low-cost visas is actually a scam. A visa can only be granted by the Saudi government or the government of the destination country.
Online payments for bookings:
Be especially careful while making purchases online. With a secure website, your financial information is safe. All users of non-secure websites will now receive a warning from modern browsers. Credit card payments offer an additional layer of security against fraudulent charges. Con artists frequently use the "better rate" to lure victims. Concern for using a third-party payment processor is warranted.
Avoid offers of free plane tickets:
Scam websites frequently send out false SMS messages claiming the recipient has won a free plane ticket. Almost all of these text messages are hoaxes. No one should respond to or visit any SMS link they receive.
Don't confirm your flight via email:
Such emails claiming to confirm your flight are spam and should be ignored. It seems suspicious, so they want to verify their identity, their schedule, and their frequent flyer account. Once they have all the details, they can use them to steal your frequent flyer points and even hijack your flight.
