7 Tourist Scams in Casablanca

You walk into the bustling Marché Central, Casablanca's famous covered market, drawn by the smell of grilled fish and the sight of gleaming seafood displays. A friendly tout steers you to a restaurant stall, where a waiter seats you and immediately starts bringing plates — bread, olives, a prawn salad, fried calamari — none of which you ordered. The main fish platter arrives and it's generous, but when the bill comes it's 430 dirhams or more for a solo meal. You're stunned because a nearly identical fish platter in the coastal town of Safi costs just 10 dirhams from a street vendor. This scam is one of the most reported on TripAdvisor's Casablanca forum. Multiple travelers describe being served 'starters you didn't order, without any explanation,' and discovering those extras cost more than the main course. The restaurants target tourists who look confused or don't speak French or Arabic, and the touts outside earn commission for every customer they bring in. One TripAdvisor user documented being charged 210 dirhams for a fish platter that locals said should cost 40-60 dirhams. Travel blogs like Journal of Nomads and The Unknown Enthusiast specifically warn about the Central Market restaurants as one of Morocco's most persistent tourist traps. The safest approach, according to seasoned travelers, is to buy your own fish from the fishmongers in the market and then negotiate a fixed cooking fee with the restaurant — typically 20-30 dirhams — before sitting down. This way you control both the price of the fish and the preparation cost, and you can decline any unwanted extras.

You're wandering the narrow lanes of Casablanca's Old Medina near Bab Marrakech when a well-dressed young man approaches you in English. He says he's a university student on his lunch break and offers to show you 'the real Casablanca that tourists never see.' He seems genuinely friendly, walks with you for 30-40 minutes through winding alleys, and then guides you into a carpet shop or leather goods store. Inside, the pressure to buy begins. The shop owner and your 'student guide' split a commission on anything you purchase, and the prices are inflated 5-10 times above what locals pay. This fake guide scam is documented extensively across Moroccan travel forums and by World Nomads, Indie Traveller, and Journal of Nomads. Morocco's government banned unlicensed guiding in 2007 under Law 05-12, meaning only officially licensed guides from the Ministry of Tourism have the legal right to offer paid tourist guiding services. Licensed guides carry a government-issued photo ID badge. If someone claims to be showing you around for free, they are almost certainly earning commission from shops. Travel safety guides recommend that if you've inadvertently acquired an unofficial guide, ask to be taken to the tourist police — since unlicensed guiding is illegal, the scammer will typically disappear immediately. In Casablanca specifically, the Old Medina and the Habous Quarter are the primary areas where this occurs. The Hay Mohammadi neighborhood is explicitly not recommended for tourists without a vetted local guide.

You step out of Casa Voyageurs train station and flag down one of Casablanca's red petit taxis. You tell the driver your destination — say, the Hassan II Mosque area. He nods and pulls away without turning on the meter. At the end of the ride, he quotes 150 dirhams for a trip that should cost 15-25 dirhams on the meter. When you protest, he claims the meter is 'broken' or that there's a 'special tariff' for tourists. This is the single most reported tourist complaint across all Moroccan cities, and Casablanca is no exception. Reddit's r/Morocco and TripAdvisor's Morocco forum are filled with accounts of petit taxi drivers claiming broken meters and demanding 5-10 times the metered fare. Petit taxis in Morocco are legally required to use their meters. A France 24 investigation filmed a Moroccan taxi driver in the act of scamming a tourist at Marrakech airport, and the same patterns are reported in Casablanca. Travel blogs like Maroc Mama and The Endless Travellers advise saying 'le compteur, s'il vous plaît' (the meter, please) in French, and if the driver refuses, simply getting out and finding another taxi. Ride-hailing apps like Careem and InDrive now operate in Casablanca and provide transparent pricing that eliminates this scam entirely. The overcharging is worst for airport-to-city transfers, where unlicensed drivers in the arrivals hall also approach tourists. Official airport taxis are white grand taxis with regulated fares posted on signs.

You land at Mohammed V Airport and head to the currency exchange desk in the arrivals hall — it has the Global Exchange logo and looks perfectly legitimate. You exchange 200 euros and receive your dirhams, but something feels off about the rate. Back at your hotel, you check and discover you received 15-20% less than the market rate. The exchange bureau buried the real rate in fine print and charged a hidden commission on top of the spread. Global Exchange at Casablanca Airport has its own dedicated warning thread on TripAdvisor titled 'Global Exchange Casablanca Airport is a Scam!' with dozens of travelers reporting atrocious exchange rates and hidden fees. One user documented being charged a rate that gave them effectively 8.5 dirhams per euro when the market rate was 10.8 — a loss of over 20%. Another reported that strange charges appeared on their credit card just 10 minutes after attempting an ATM withdrawal at the airport. Outside the airport, street money changers near the medina offer tempting rates but commonly palm off counterfeit or discontinued dirham notes, or use sleight-of-hand counting techniques to shortchange tourists. Travel guides consistently recommend using ATMs from major Moroccan banks (Attijariwafa, BMCE, or Banque Populaire) for the best rates, or exchanging only a small amount at the airport and getting better rates in the city at licensed bureaux de change.

You're admiring the exterior of the Hassan II Mosque when a woman approaches with a tube of henna paste, smiling and gesturing at your hand. Before you fully understand what's happening, she's grabbed your wrist and started drawing an intricate pattern. 'Free, free — gift for you!' she says. Three minutes later, the design is done and her demeanor shifts completely. She demands 200-500 dirhams (20-50 USD) and refuses to let go of your wrist until you pay. If you resist, she creates a loud public scene designed to embarrass you into paying. The henna ambush is one of the most widely reported scams across Morocco, documented by The Endless Travellers, World Nomads, Best Morocco Travel, and Jagsetter. While it's most aggressive in Marrakech's Jemaa el-Fnaa, Casablanca travelers report the same tactic outside the Hassan II Mosque and along the Corniche. The key tactic is physical contact — once the henna is on your skin, you can't simply hand it back. Some women work in pairs, with one grabbing your hand while the other applies the design. ArganCharm's Morocco scam guide notes that 'some apply henna without consent' and advises travelers to 'never extend your hand.' If you actually want henna, your hotel can arrange a visit from a reputable henna artist at a pre-agreed price of 30-50 dirhams for a hand design — a fraction of what the street hustlers demand.

You step into a carpet or leather goods shop in the Habous Quarter to browse. The owner immediately offers you mint tea — a Moroccan custom that feels welcoming. As you sip, carpets are unrolled in front of you, one after another. The owner tells you each is handmade by Berber women in the Atlas Mountains. The prices start at 3,000 dirhams and climb quickly to 8,000 or more. When you say you're just looking, the mood shifts. The owner reminds you that you drank his tea, that unrolling the carpets was work, and that leaving without buying is disrespectful. This high-pressure sales tactic is documented extensively by Morocco travel bloggers and on TripAdvisor forums. Items labeled as handmade — ceramics, leather goods, rugs — are sometimes mass-produced imports sold at 10 times what locals pay. The Journal of Nomads and Fun Food Travelling both document how sellers promote these goods aggressively, claiming they are 'genuine' and 'best quality.' The mint tea is a deliberate social pressure tool — creating a sense of obligation. Morocco Closer's safety guide recommends never feeling obligated to buy because someone served you tea, and always comparing prices at multiple shops before purchasing. The Habous Quarter has more regulated pricing than the Old Medina, but even here the tourist markup is substantial. Government-run cooperatives and the Ensemble Artisanal (state-run craft centers) offer fixed prices that can serve as a baseline for negotiation elsewhere.

You're boarding the Casablanca Tramway near the Casa Voyageurs station during rush hour. The platform is packed and people press together as the doors open. Someone bumps into you from behind while another person crowds you from the side. You don't think anything of it until you reach for your phone 10 minutes later and discover your pocket is empty. Your wallet, which was in your jacket, is gone too. Pickpocketing is the most common crime affecting tourists in Moroccan cities, and Casablanca's train stations and tramway are well-known hotspots. World Nomads' Morocco safety guide specifically warns about crowded public transport as prime pickpocketing territory. The tactic often involves teams of two or three — one creates a distraction or crowd while the others lift valuables. Morocco Scams & Safety Guide 2026 by CityGuide Tours warns tourists to 'remain extremely alert in crowded areas' and to 'keep your money, cards and phone tucked away.' The risk increases during evening rush hours and around the train stations, which connect to Marrakech and Rabat intercity services. Casablanca's train system itself is considered safe and reliable — the Al Boraq high-speed line is one of the best in Africa. But the stations and platforms during peak hours require the same vigilance you'd exercise in any major city.