The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) alerts the financial services community and members of the public about a scam involving a fake bank statement which claims that the account has been “temporarily suspended” by the DFSA.

The fake bank statement is purportedly issued by a legitimate bank with an address in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).  The fake bank statement claims that the status of the current account it relates to is:

“Temporarily suspended Account by Dubai Financial Regulatory Authority (DFSA)”.

The DFSA informs you that:

• The bank statement is fake and part of a scam;
• The DFSA does not temporarily suspend current bank accounts; and
• The bank purporting to issue the fake bank statement had a branch registered in the DIFC that was authorised by the DFSA to carry on certain Financial Services in or from the DIFC, but:
• it was not authorised by the DFSA to accept deposits;
• its DFSA Licence was withdrawn well before the fake bank statement was used;
• it was deregistered, as shown in the DIFC’s Public Register, well before the fake bank statement was used; and
• when it was registered in the DIFC, it had an address in the DIFC different from the address in the fake bank statement.

The DFSA strongly advises that you do not respond to the perpetrators of the scam, and under no circumstances should you send or give any money to any party connected to the scam.

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

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 going to: ALERTS

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

If you have any concerns about the authenticity of any correspondence or documents that purport to be issued by the DIFC Authority, DFSA or a DFSA regulated Firm, you should direct your concerns to the DIFC Authority on Tel:+971 4 362 2222 and to the DFSA via the DFSA Complaints function.