I've been to Petra with my boyfriend and want to report a scam on which we fell victim to.
After we entered and were approaching the site, a young man walked up to us and offered a guided tour on the mountain trail. He said he had a horse so we could choose between going on horseback or on foot.
He was quite pushy, he said without him we won't have enough time to see all the attractions of Petra since we don't have enough time. After hesitating a bit we decided to go with him and walk on the mountain trail to see Petra from above. Before we left we agreed that we'll pay 30 JOD for the tour. We didn't have enough cash on us so we also discussed that we'll need to use an ATM later on.
He didn't tell us that there won't be a proper hiking trail so it was a bit shocking to do it without wearing appropriate hiking shoes but we followed him. He took us to the spot where we saw the Treasury from above and we had tea in one of the caves up on the mountains.
When the hike was about to end our guide said that tipping is very important and we should be very generous. He took us to Mövenpick Resort where we used the ATM. We discussed with my boyfriend that we'll give him 45 JOD.
When my boyfriend wanted to give him the money he freaked out and said that he spent the whole day with us and he wants more money, 150-200 JOD. He became very aggressive (luckily only verbally) and wanted to force us to give him more money. At this point, a car stopped near us and it was obvious that he has his friends in the car so I felt very unsafe and told my boyfriend that stop arguing with him and let him go. We gave 60 JOD (which he said is the least amount) and once he had our money he disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Be aware of these scammers and ALWAYS refuse to accept their guided tours.
