Iraqi man cheated out of IQD 10 million by Khaliji scam artist

The owner of the foreign notes had told the victim that he had intended to distribute the amount in dinars to poor people in the region.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Scammed by a man with an accent most associated with Gulf countries (Khaliji), an Iraqi man has lost the equivalent of USD 8,400 in the city of Karbala by accepting counterfeit foreign currency, local police stated on Wednesday.

In the statement, Karbala Police said they had earlier received a complaint from a citizen in the city claiming that a middle-aged man speaking with a Khaliji accent scammed him at the currency exchange market with banknotes he did not know were counterfeit.

Security authorities have long warned citizens in Iraq of people who engage in fraudulent activities, dealing foreign notes that are either fake and worthless in the country’s currency exchange markets.

The fraudster was in possession of “60 banknotes,” and told the man from Karbala that “the value of each note was 200,000 Iraqi Dinars (IQD), nearly USD 168, which he wanted to change to Iraqi currency as soon as possible,” according to the statement.

The owner of the foreign notes had told the victim that he had intended to distribute the amount in dinars to poor people in the region.

The police did not reveal the identity of the fraudster or the type of counterfeit currency he was peddling.

The statement added that “the citizen, in good faith, brought IQD 10 million and accepted the foreign notes belonging to the other person.”

“After the Karbalaii returned to the currency exchange market, he found out his notes were worthless, an unknown currency to the traders,” the Karbala Police explained.

The Karbala Police had previously arrested three members of a group in the al-Iskan neighborhood of the city who attempted to trick another Iraqi with the same scheme.

Editing by Nadia Riva