Advance-Fee Scams in Morocco
Classic advance-fee fraud originating from or targeting Morocco, exploiting diaspora transfer narratives and business opportunity stories.
Part of: Advance Fee Scams
Last reviewed: 1 June 2026
Advance-fee fraud with Moroccan themes targets both Moroccans living abroad who receive messages about inheritance or business deals at home, and foreign visitors or investors who encounter elaborate stories about trapped funds or exclusive business opportunities in Morocco.
The Moroccan diaspora's significant remittance activity — sending funds home to family — creates a plausible context for stories about funds held up in Moroccan bank accounts or customs, requiring a small advance to release.
How this scam works on Morocco
Moroccans living in France, Spain, the Netherlands, or Belgium receive emails claiming that a distant relative has died and left an inheritance in a Moroccan bank. The lawyer managing the estate requires an advance fee for court filings or inheritance taxes before the funds can be released abroad.
Foreign investors receive messages from someone claiming to be a Moroccan businessman with a lucrative import-export opportunity who needs a foreign partner to process funds through a non-Moroccan account. Each stage of the supposed deal requires an advance payment.
In tourist-targeted versions, a person in a medina marketplace or riad courtyard spins an elaborate story about needing to pay customs fees to release a shipment of carpets or artefacts, offering to split the profit with anyone who will lend the fee.
Common red flags
- Email about an inheritance or business deal requiring advance payment
- Story involves funds held in a Moroccan bank or customs awaiting a small release fee
- In-person approach in a tourist area involving an elaborate business story and a request for cash
- Contact uses a personal email despite claiming to be a lawyer or businessman
- Each stage of the deal requires a new, larger advance payment
- Pressure to act quickly before an expiring legal or commercial deadline
How to protect yourself
- Treat all unsolicited messages about unexpected funds in Morocco as scams
- Never advance money to release an inheritance or business payment from an unknown contact
- Verify any named Moroccan lawyer or notary through the Moroccan Bar Association (Ordre des Avocats)
- Walk away from in-person approach scams in markets or tourist areas without engaging
- Research any claimed business opportunity independently before investing time or money
- Report to local police (procès-verbal) if physically pressured for money
How to report it
- Report to Morocco DGSN cybercrime unit for online fraud
- File a complaint at a local police station if the approach was in-person
- Contact your bank fraud line immediately if a payment was made
Frequently asked questions
My relative living in Morocco says a lawyer contacted them about a distant relative's inheritance — how do we check if it's real?
Verify the named lawyer or notary through the Moroccan Bar Association (Ordre des Avocats) directly, not through any contact details the lawyer themselves provided. A genuine inheritance claim never requires an advance payment before any funds are released.
How do I recognise this scam when it comes as a personalised business email rather than a street approach?
The same core rule applies regardless of format: a deal that requires you to advance funds before receiving any payment is fraudulent, no matter how professional or personalised the email seems, or how many real Moroccan institutions it references. Verify any counterparty independently through the Moroccan Chamber of Commerce before sending anything.
Are in-person advance-fee approaches in Moroccan markets a known scam?
Yes. The carpet or artefact customs-fee approach is a well-documented scam in Moroccan medinas. Tourists are advised by official tourism bodies not to engage with unsolicited advances from strangers in tourist areas involving money, regardless of how compelling the story sounds.
Sources for this guide are listed on the Advance Fee Scams page (4 sources).