Arab News
 
JEDDAH, May 16: Several jewelers in Jeddah’s downtown Balad area have been targeted by fraudsters who exchange fake jewelry for authentic ones while looking at goods and haggling about prices.

According to jewelers, fake jewelry made in China using cheap metals began entering the market earlier this year. “Last month, an old Moroccan man came in and began bargaining the price for a certain ring. In the end he left without buying. After he left, I took the ring back to its box only to realize that it was a bit different,” said Abdulmuhsin Al-Yafi, manager of a jewelry store in Balad.

Al-Yafi said the ring looked almost the same, and that his attention was diverted because of the large numbers of people present in the store at the time. “I went running after him, but he had disappeared in the crowd with a SR700 ring,” he said.

He added that he later found out that fake jewelry made in China were being sold in some parts of the downtown area, such as the Alawi market.

“I remember that sometime ago some Chinese customers were asking for jewelry brochures and were taking pictures of our products. Maybe they copied the designs,” he said.

Al-Yafi feels that people are taking advantage of the availability of fake jewelry of the same designs to rip off jewelers.

Saleh Ahmad, another jeweler who was also conned, said he is aware of the scam, which became common earlier this year.

He said that a few months ago, a young Saudi man came into his store during rush hours and asked to look at several bracelets. “The customer checked the pieces and then left after saying he didn’t agree on the price,” he said.

“After a while, when the worker was putting the pieces back into the display, he noticed that something was wrong. When I looked at one piece closely it appeared to be fake,” he said, adding that the young man had switched a bracelet worth SR900 with a SR40 fake piece.

A South East Asian worker at an accessories shop in the Al-Alawi Market said he used to stock Chinese-made imitation jewelry that looked like real gold.

He added that these items are no longer in stock because they sold fast, as they were of good quality, cheap and of attractive designs, commonly found in gold shops.