The DFSA alerts the financial services community and the public to an advance fee scam in which:are fraudulently impersonated.As part of the scam, the scammer/s send emails purportedly from a bank employee, who falsely claims to be an “Account Officer” at the bank, to an apparent customer of the bank.  The scammers ask the customer to pay several fees.  In return, the scammers promise that a “compensation fund” of USD500,000 will be transferred to the customer’s bank account. Of course, the scammers have no intention of following through on this promise.In an attempt to coerce the customer to pay more advance fees, the scammers fraudulently misuse the name of the DFSA and the following fictitious DFSA employees:In fraudulent communications, the scammers falsely claim that the DFSA:
A copy of the false “stop order” can be found here.In an attempt to add legitimacy to the scam, the scammers also send emails purportedly from “Mr Anwal Belal”, who is claimed to be a lawyer acting on behalf of the scammed customer.The DFSA informs you that:
The DFSA also informs you that the international bank has confirmed that it did not send or authorise the sending of any communication which refers to the release of a “compensation fund” of USD500,000 to any bank account if advance fees are paid.The DFSA strongly advises that individuals do not respond to any communication regarding the scam, and under no circumstances should they send any money to any party involved in the scam.

The DFSA has a page on its website dedicated to Alerts which it has issued about scams. All Alerts issued by the DFSA may be accessed by clicking here.The DFSA has also issued warnings and guidance about the common types of scams perpetrated on consumers. For more information on these scams, please click here.The DFSA encourages consumers to refer to the list of regulated firms that is available on DFSA’s public register and may be accessed by clicking here.If you have any concerns about the authenticity of any correspondence or documents that purport to be issued by the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), DFSA or a DFSA regulated firm, you should direct your concerns to the DIFC on Tel: +971 4 362 2222 and to the DFSA via the DFSA Complaints function by clicking here.