Fraudsters in Saudi Arabia have struck once again! The Saudi press reported on Monday that thousands of Saudis have taken the bait, or the “red mercury” hidden in old “Singer” sewing machines, if we are to believe these ever-inventive swindlers.
An atomic fairy tale
The rumour, according to which the needle of an old “Singer” model contains “red mercury”, a miracle product said to be highly radioactive, emerged for the first time nearly a month ago in the northern part of Saudi Arabia.
With the help of the internet and SMS, the rumour spread like wildfire in the vast kingdom of black gold.
The price of this sewing machine, more than half a century old, started climbing to reach 25,000, 50,000, or even 200,000 riyals (about 6500, 13,000 or 52,000 US dollars) per item, depending on the region. Before then, it could be bought for about thirty dollars.
The snake oil
Obviously, the Saudis who rushed to the “Singer” outlets and sewing workshops to fight over machines and pay the top rate, were not thinking of manufacturing an atomic bomb by processing mercury antimony oxide, or “red mercury”, in huge quantities.
In the 90s, Swiss newspapers had referred to dealings between the Russian mafia and Arabic countries, including Libya, to sell them red mercury. After several attempts, these countries realised that they had been taken for a ride by con artists.
Saudis, as well as foreign residents, who believed the “April Fools” joke, were simply dreaming of hitting the jackpot: indeed, the idea that this snake oil has extraordinary virtues is widespread.
One grants it the magic power to exhume buried treasure from the very bowels of the earth, a kind of “marvelous lamp” of Aladdin of the “One Thousand and one Nights” and a shortcut to getting richer.
According to the press, this obsession with easy enrichment has driven thieves, who are legion throughout the Kingdom, to temporarily turn their backs on burgling houses and cars, turning instead towards sewing workshops. According to the website Sabq http://www.sabq.org/ the most recent burglary was recorded in a sewing workshop in the An-Nassim district of Riyadh. Two “Singers” were targeted.
The Eldorado of crooks
Confronted by the scale of “the red mercury fever”, the spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, General Mansour al-Turki told the Saudi daily Okaz that he denounced “the scam behind this rumour responsible for the dizzying ascent of sewing machine prices.”
Several newspaper readers have blamed the victims, who paid premium rates for vulgar machines and who will never learn from the scams of the swindlers who plunder the wealthy Gulf monarchies, of which Saudi Arabia, hotspot of holy prayers, is fertile land for enthusiasts of easy money.
Some readers have mentioned the “money obstetricians”, the master-crooks, notably Africans, who persuade their victims that their piles of money can “give birth to little ones” thanks to the snake oil with the blessed help of “djinns” or “genies”, and on which the Gulf press reports on an almost daily basis.
Translated by Naima Bouteldja
www.saudiwave.com
Israel to raze 200 Palestinian homes in Jerusalem