The Dubai Financial Service Authority (DFSA) alerts the financial services community and members of the public about a fraudulent scheme in which the DFSA and two UAE government authorities have been impersonated.

The scammers offer consumers access to loans of up to USD 20,000,000.  However, once a consumer takes up a loan, the scammers advise the consumer that the transfer of the funds has been put “on hold”, and they ask consumers to pay the following “clearance fees” for the loan funds to be released:
• USD 60,000 to one legitimate UAE government authority;
• USD 26,500 to another legitimate UAE government authority; and
• USD 54,300 to the DFSA “for the official registration and approval of the investment contract with the DFSA”.

The scammers use the following fake documents as part of the scam:
• A false letter from the DFSA’s “Fund Monitoring Unit”. A copy can be found here.
• A false letter from a legitimate UAE government authority. A copy can be found here.
• A false letter from the “Foreign Investment Remittance Department” of another legitimate UAE government authority. A copy can be found here.

The scammers fraudulently use the name of the current Chief Executive of the DFSA, and falsely claim that he is the Head of the DFSA’s “International Funds Transfer Supervision”.

The DFSA informs you that:
• there is no department called “International Funds Transfer Supervision” at the DFSA;
• there is no unit called the “Fund Monitoring Unit” at the DFSA;
• the DFSA does not approve or register investment contracts; and
• the DFSA does not charge clearance fees for fund transfers.

The DFSA also informs you that the name of the DFSA’s Chief Executive has been used without authority and for a malicious purpose.

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 that it has issued about scams. All alerts issued by the DFSA may be accessed by going to: ALERTS

The DFSA has also issued warnings and guidance about the common types of scams perpetrated on consumers. For more information on these scams, please go to: HOW TO AVOID BEING SCAMMED

The DFSA encourages consumers to refer to the list of regulated Firms and Authorised Individuals licensed by the DFSA that is available on the DFSA's PUBLIC REGISTER

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 on COMPLAINTS