The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) alerts the financial services community and members of the public to a scam facilitated by an individual claiming to be the Senior Auditor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
The scam falsely informs consumers that the Senior Auditor of the DIFC has discovered a deposit of USD 18,000,000 left by a deceased client of the DIFC.
Unsuspecting consumers are:
• informed that the deposit is secretly sealed, and that a DIFC Director would like to make a confidential deal with them; and
• requested to respond and provide their bank account details in order for the money to be transferred.
This type of scam is typically referred to as an “Advanced Fee Scam” or a “Nigerian Scam” as they first emanated from Nigeria. The hallmark feature of the scam is that consumers are offered access to a large sum of money on payment of a fee. These scams are too fanciful to be believed.
The DFSA informs you that this e-mail is linked to organised fraud and the DFSA strongly advises that you do not respond to the invitation.
The DFSA has recently issued warnings and guidance in regard to the common types of scams perpetrated on consumers. For more information on these scams, please go to:
If you receive an invitation to access large sums of money on terms that are “too good to be true” then you are encouraged not to respond to the notice and to report the incident directly to the DFSA by accessing the Complaints Portal on the DFSA website or by calling the DFSA on telephone +971 4 362 1 576.