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Nigerian Female Pilgrim Defrauded In Madinah After Suspected Scammer Swapped $500 With $5
According to her, the man approached her and claimed she had not yet received her own share of the assistance
Medina– A Nigerian woman participating in the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage in the holy city of Madinah, Saudi Arabia, has fallen victim to suspected fraudsters after being deceived into surrendering an envelope containing $500, only to be handed back $5.
The incident, which has stirred concern among Nigerian pilgrims, reportedly occurred near a Mosque in Madinah despite repeated warnings by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) about fraudsters targeting pilgrims in the Holy Land.
In a video obtained by Afrika Eyes, the woman, who spoke in Hausa language, narrated how the suspected scammer lured her with claims that the government was distributing financial support to pilgrims “for the sake of Allah.”
According to her, the man approached her and claimed she had not yet received her own share of the assistance.
She said, “Yes, so I went there. He said, ‘The government has sent support for the sake of Allah, but you have not collected yours. Come and receive it yourself, collect it with your own hands.’ So I said okay. He asked where it was being shared, and they said it was over there near the mosque. I left the mosque and crossed over there.”
Narrating how the incident unfolded, the woman explained that she initially mistook the suspect for someone she knew before he eventually called her over and began discussing the alleged government support.
She said, “It happened there. Near the mosque I saw a man and thought he looked like the child I had come with. So I said let me call him. When I got closer, I realised it was not him. As I was about to return, the man called me.
“I thought maybe he wanted to show me where the thing was being shared, so when he kept calling me, I finally went to him. He said, ‘Hajiya, the government has sent aid for the sake of Allah, but you have not been given yours. We have been distributing it, haven’t they given you your own?’ I said no, they had not. He said, ‘The government sent it.’ So I kept quiet.”
The pilgrim further explained that the suspect convinced her that pilgrims who travelled with them had already received money in Nigeria, thereby making his claims appear believable.
“He then said, ‘Come, let us go so you can collect the money.’ I said, ‘Money? What kind of money?’ He said, ‘The same kind of money they gave you over there. That is what they are giving out.’ The people who boarded the airplane with us were given money, weren’t they? I said yes.
“Yes, in Nigeria,” she added.
According to her, the suspect then asked her to bring out the envelope she had earlier received.
“Yes. Then he told me to show him the envelope,” she said.
When asked if it was the same envelope previously given to her, she replied, “Yes, the one they gave me. So he said, ‘Let me see it.’ Then he asked, ‘Is there money inside the ambulance account?’ I told him yes. He said, ‘That is the kind of money they are going to give you.’
“I was talking, but you know how people sometimes dismiss what you are saying as nonsense. He kept insisting, saying it was that kind of money they were going to give me.”
The woman said the situation escalated after she handed the envelope to the man.
“Then he said, ‘Bring it so I can see it and collect the envelope.’ So I handed it to him. After I gave it to him, that card was already in his hands. I then begged him, ‘For the sake of Allah, give me my money.’ But instead, he only handed me this thing. He had already ruined everything for me,” she lamented.
She explained that she later discovered something was wrong after comparing what she received with what other women around her had.
“Well, I saw our fellow women opening theirs, and theirs was not like mine. So I said, ‘What is going on—’” she said.
When asked whether people had earlier warned pilgrims about the suspect, the woman admitted that there had already been discussions about him.
“Yes, people were already talking about him,” she said.
Meanwhile, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria has continued to urge Nigerian pilgrims to remain vigilant and avoid interactions with suspicious individuals in Saudi Arabia.
“The incident happened despite repeated warnings and enlightenment campaigns by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, urging pilgrims to remain vigilant against fraudsters operating around the holy land.”
