Fake pages exploit those wishing to rent tourist vehicles in Jordan
Amman3 min read
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The head of the Car Rental Owners Association, Marwan Akoubeh, warned against fake pages on social media platforms that promote the rental of modern tourist vehicles at low prices, with the aim of luring citizens, tourists, and expatriates and seizing their money under the pretext of booking vehicles in advance.
Akoubeh stated that the association has received dozens of complaints regarding these practices, pointing out that these pages belong to unlicensed entities that do not possess official records or licenses from the association or the Land Transport Regulatory Commission.
He explained that those behind these pages exploit the demand for renting tourist vehicles by posting advertisements that include competitive price offers and vehicles with modern specifications, before asking those wishing to book to transfer amounts ranging between 50 and 100 dinars as a deposit to reserve the vehicle until their arrival in Jordan.
He added that some of the victims may hesitate to file official complaints due to the limited amounts they lost, thinking that pursuing them is not worth the trouble, which may encourage those behind these pages to continue their fraudulent operations and target more victims.
Akoubeh indicated that those behind these pages stop responding to people who transfer money to book vehicles, noting that complaints have been received regarding the difficulty of recovering the transferred amounts, in addition to some victims being subjected to threats aimed at discouraging them from demanding their money back.
He called on those wishing to rent vehicles to verify the licensing of offices before dealing with them, and not to transfer any money before ensuring the legality of the office and the credibility of the offer, stressing the necessity of making financial transfers in the name of the licensed office, not in the name of individuals, to facilitate recourse to the competent authorities in case of being subjected to fraud.
210 licensed offices in Jordan
Akoubeh pointed out that Jordan has about 210 licensed tourist vehicle rental offices, with a fleet of about 13,000 vehicles distributed throughout the Kingdom, calling on those wishing to rent to deal with licensed offices and not be led astray by fake offers.
He also warned against renting private vehicles with white license plates outside the legal framework, due to the legal and insurance problems that may result from this.
He called on the competent authorities to intensify monitoring of social media platforms, pursue those behind the fake pages, and take the necessary legal measures against them to protect citizens, tourists, and expatriates, and to curb fraud operations that may affect the reputation of the Jordanian tourism sector.
