Got mail from DIFC governor? It’s a scam

The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) has issued an alert about a scam that’s being facilitated through two fraudulent email IDs - abdsalh@gmail.com<mailto:abdsalh@gmail.com> and abdllam.saleh003@zbavitu.net<mailto:abdllam.saleh003@zbavitu.net> – that it says “falsely claim to represent His Excellency Abdullah Mohammed Saleh, Governor of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).”

According to the DFSA alert, the fraudulent emails advise that the DIFC is seeking to expand and relocate its business abroad into a number of sectors, and then go on to make an offer to provide finance for any private sector projects outside the Gulf region. The offered finance through such fraud emails is a five-year “renewable” loan with an annual interest rate of 3 per cent.

“The DFSA strongly advises that you do not respond to any such invitations, and under no circumstances should you send the originator any money,” the DFSA has warned in its alert.

Additionally the DFSA highlights that the DIFC governor “does not communicate through “zbavitu.net<https://zbavitu.net>”, “gmail.com<https://gmail.com>” or other such addresses” and that “the scammers have used the name of His Excellency without authority and for a malicious purpose.”

The DFSA has a page on its website dedicated to Alerts [link - https://www.dfsa.ae/Alerts/Alerts.aspx] which it has issued in relation to scams. The DFSA has also recently issued warnings and guidance about the common types of scams perpetrated on consumers. For more information on these scams, click here [link - https://www.dfsa.ae/Pages/Alerts/HowToAvoidBeingScammed.aspx].

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