The Dubai Financial Service Authority (DFSA) alerts the financial services community and members of the public of a fraudulent scheme in which the DFSA has been impersonated.

The scammers offer consumers access to a loan in the amount of USD 527,000,000.  In order to access the loan funds, the scammers tell consumers that they:

• must set up a Special Purpose Vehicle – a company (SPV) with a government authority in the UAE; and
• pay fees to “activate” the SPV and receive the loan.

Once the fees to activate the SPV are paid, the scammers then tell consumers that the transfer of their loan funds has been put “on hold” because the purported transfer has “violated the Middle East Fund Transfer Law”. The consumers are required to pay further fees, and an insurance premium, to allegedly several government “authorities” so that the loan funds can be released.  The authorities have been impersonated by the scammers.

The DFSA is one of the authorities impersonated by the scammers. The scammers send consumers false letters and emails from a person using the name of “Yusuf Hassan Abdulrahman”, who claims to be the DFSA’s “Head of Recovery Department.”  The scammers falsely claim in their communications that the DFSA has received an “order from the Crown Court in England” to investigate and complete the pending transfer of the loan funds. The scammers further claim that the DFSA requires a payment of a fee of USD 38,680 to “re-validate the loan agreement” and release the loan funds.

A copy of the false DFSA letter and false payment receipt from “Her Majesty’s Courts Services” can be found here.

The DFSA informs you that:
• there is no such law as the Middle East Fund Transfer Law;
• Yusuf Hassan Abdulrahman is not an employee of the DFSA;
• the DFSA does not have a department called “Recovery;” and
• the DFSA does not validate loan agreements, and therefore does not charge fees for validating loan agreements; and
• the DFSA does not charge fees, or require the payment of fees, for loan transactions or the transfer of loan funds.

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 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