The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) alerts the financial services community and the public to a fraudulent scam which purports to sell fake Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Commercial Licences.

The perpetrator of the scam is a business management company allegedly based in the UAE. The company:
• purports to sell a fake DIFC Commercial Licence for “Investment Bank Limited”, an entity which the perpetrators of the scam claim is located in the DIFC and registered by the DIFC Registrar of Companies; and
• claims that the selling price for the licence is “25 million US dollars”, with a 10% advance fee payment of the selling price to be made when signing the initial contract.

A copy of the fake document used as part of the fraudulent scam can be viewed here.

The DFSA informs you that:
• an entity named “Investment Bank Limited” is not registered by the DIFC Registrar of Companies, and nor is it authorised by the DFSA, and therefore it does not exist in the DIFC; and
• the DIFC Commercial Licence which is purportedly being sold is fake and of no value whatsoever.

The DFSA strongly advises that individuals and firms do not communicate with any party in connection with the scam, and that they should under no circumstances send or give any money to such parties in connection with the scam.

The DIFC has a page on its website dedicated to assess the authenticity of all DIFC registered companies that may be accessed at: DIFC PUBLIC REGISTER

The DFSA has a page on its website dedicated to informing the public about scams, including scams which misuse the name of the DFSA and/or the DIFC. All Alerts issued by the DFSA may be accessed on the DFSA website at: 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 

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