FI Fraud: Dubai issues warning re "Arab-Anglo Finance"

The scam falsely informs consumers that Arab Anglo provides access to funds, thereby targeting consumers who may be in need of lines of credit. Unsuspecting consumers are informed that access to the funds requires registration with the Dubai International Financial Centre Authority (DIFC). Unsuspecting consumers are requested to pay registration fees to the DIFC and advised that the DIFC will grant them a Letter of Credit. False DIFC documents, bearing the DIFC letterhead, are used to legitimise the fraudulent activity. Examples of the false letters are available at http://www.dfsa.ae/Documents/Alerts%202011/Arab%20Anglo_False%20Documents%20attached%20to%20the%20Alert%20Dec%2021%202011.pdf

The DFSA informs you that neither the DFSA nor the DIFC loans money to consumers or provides access to lines of credit and does not levy fees to access funds.

The DFSA, therefore, strongly advises you to be wary of Firms who charge fees in advance of providing lines of credit or access to funds.

Furthermore, the website of Arab-Anglo:

• states that Arab-Anglo has offices in Abu Dhabi and in the UK. These claims are false. The DFSA has found no evidence that such offices exist at the locations specified in the website; and

• claims that Arab-Anglo provides financial services including mortgages, insurance, and personal finance advice. According to the UK FSA Register (which can be found online at www.fsa.gov.uk/register/home.do), Arab-Anglo is not and never has been authorised or registered by the FSA to provide regulated financial services in the UK. Moreover, the name of Arab-Anglo is on the FSA’s alert list of Unauthorised Firms/Individuals at:

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Doing/Regulated/Law/Alerts/unauthorised.shtml