The Dubai Financial Services Authority “DFSA” alerts the financial services community and  the public about a fraudulent scheme in which the DFSA and its Chairman were impersonated.

The scammers, using the DFSA logo, issued a fake letter purporting to be from the “Remittance Department” and the DFSA’s Chairman, while a nonexistent bank and two UAE government entities were purported to have been copied in.

The fake letter appears to have been sent to an individual outside the UAE. The letter stated that in order for the DFSA to allow a transfer of $20,250,000 outside of the UAE, a 1% fee is required to be paid. 

The scammers further provided bank account details of where to deposit the fee. A copy of the fake letter can be found here.

In an attempt to authenticate the scam, the perpetrators of the scam fraudulently used the following without permission:

• the name, logo and address of the DFSA; and
• the name and purported signature of DFSA’s Chairman.

The DFSA informs you that it does not:

• have an office or function referred to as the “Remittance Department”;
• get involved in these types of transfers of large sums of money to individuals for no legitimate purpose or rationale.

The DFSA strongly advises you not to respond to any communications regarding this scam, and under no circumstances should you send or give any money to any party connected to 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 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 DIFC Authority, 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