Why does visiting Egypt feel like constant scams and harassment?
Every person you encounter — from airport staff and ticket sellers to street vendors — treats you as a target for invented fees, currency manipulation, and aggressive harassment. This constant hostility turns a vacation into a defensive battle, preventing you from ever feeling safe or simply enjoying the destination.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Leaving the country immediately or cutting trips short
- 2Hiring a local personal guide
- 3Refusing to pay arbitrary fees and walking away
- 4Ditching organized tours to navigate independently
- 5avoiding certain destinations entirely
- 6traveling with extreme caution
- 7Chalk it up to experience, learn from it, and move on
- 8Refuse to trust strangers or anyone who approaches to help
- 9Refusing to help or speaking a different language to dismiss them
- 10Offering actual food instead of money when panhandled
- 11Trusting your gut and walking away
- 12Wearing headphones and listening to music or podcasts
- 13Pretending to talk on the phone or reading a book
- 14Using a sleeping mask
- 15Giving short, sharp replies or practicing unfriendly body language / resting bitch face
- 16Making friends with other passengers for protection
- 17Getting loud and publicly confronting the person
- 18Refusing to enter unmarked vehicles or demanding to conduct checks in public lobbies
- 19Carrying backup phones, keeping financial apps locked with biometric security, and limiting physical cash
- 20Carrying bills worth almost nothing to give away
- 21Refusing to look at or acknowledge anyone who approaches with a question
- 22Waving them off
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I paid $15 for “fast immigration,” which apparently translates to stand in the same line as everyone else while random people walk straight through anyway. Then some guy appears out of nowhere demanding another $15 for a “registration fee,” which I’m convinced was created on the spot.”source ↗
“At the Saqqara ticket counter, the guy says 1525 EGP. Cool. I tap my card. My screen flashes 1525 USD. USD. If I wasn’t paying attention, they would’ve robbed me of $1500 with the confidence of someone ordering a latte.”source ↗
“I paid to enter a mosque in Kairouan, then was refused entry for being non-Muslim. No refund.”source ↗
“Shopkeepers were aggressive enough to block the exit,and insult my friend who is not white by insisting that "he is not Canadian".”source ↗
“My hotel cancelled a non-refundable booking on arrival and reeked of smoke and roaches.”source ↗
“I visited Egypt 3 weeks back and I had the exact same experience! What shocked me the most was the scam inside the airport.”source ↗
“Next thing he’s behind me pushing me into the sink and trying to grab at me. Anyway. I will never return. Lots of touchy feely men and I didn’t feel comfortable or safe even with my husband.”source ↗
“Literally 90% of people are trying to scam, rob or assault you verbally or physically. Even the children.”source ↗
“Being a tourist in Egypt I felt like I was at war with every single person who was there. Every human being is seemingly out to do you harm.”source ↗
“Yep, as a woman I can't say I enjoyed Egypt for all these reason plus sexual harassment, having men follow me, touch me etc.”source ↗
“I fell for a scam I never thought I would fall for”source ↗
“This scam had to many red flags that I even embarrassed I fell for it.”source ↗
“I’ve travelled solo so many times, and I never thought I’d fall for such a basic scam.”source ↗
“I still feel like a complete idiot for falling in that scam but now I don’t even look at anyone who approaches me with a question.”source ↗
“Went for so long all over North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latam without ever losing anything, but the day finally came today.”source ↗
“My intuition found it a bit shady, so I said in English that I didn’t understand German and tried to walk away.”source ↗
“I felt bad and tired, so I went to the vending machine with them.”source ↗
“while I was operating the cart vending machine, one of them was hovering behind me, which felt suspicious.”source ↗
“do you guys often find older men trying to talk to you out of no where? It gives me the creeps majorly, especially when it’s out the blue.”source ↗
“I’ve gotten quite scared sometimes because most the time these men are on drugs, not always, but they approach out of no where.”source ↗
“I had to tell my sister in law to call me to get out of a conversation that was completely unwanted, and I was pretty scared.”source ↗
“I was traveling for 15 months and finally got assaulted and robbed too, in bolivia as well. Broad daylight.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 9How to handle high-pressure roofing salespeople
- 11Why is this community full of sales pitches and spam?
- 2Why am I getting so many unsolicited acquisition and sales calls?
- 5Why are major tourist attraction tickets so expensive?
- 4Why does IT send fake phishing emails that stress us out?
- 3How to stop an email spam bomb attacking a user inbox