Scams that the QFC Regulatory Authority deals with

The QFC Regulatory Authority deals with scams that are related to financial services activities carried on by authorised firms or those claiming to be. Those may include but are not limited to:

• firms claiming to be authorised by the QFC Regulatory Authority;
• investment scams;

An investment scam is when you are offered a fake, but convincing opportunity to make quick money or guaranteed returns. Always be suspicious of any investment opportunities that promise a high return with little or no risk. For example, you are approached by a financial advisor offering you stocks in an online trading platform for a company that doesn’t exist and once you hand over your money the advisor disappears.

• insurance policy scams;

Insurance scams are acts committed to defraud an insurance process. For example, scammers approach you pretending to be insurance agents and try to get your personal information so that they can file a fake insurance claim on your policy, resulting in raised premiums or even loss of insurance coverage for you.

• financial services scams; and

These scams are related to financial services activities carried on by QFC firms or under the QFC regulatory framework. Banking scams are also included in this category. For example, you receive an e-mail message that asks you to verify your bank account or debit card number by your existing bank, that is considered a phishing scam. 

• firms that are selling policies from non-existing companies.

Scams that are outside the authority of the QFC Regulatory Authority to deal with

The QFC Regulatory Authority does not deal with scams that do not relate to financial services activities carried on by QFC authorised firms or those claiming to carry out financial services activities in or from the QFC. Those include but are not limited to oversees calls asking you to make investments, online shopping scams; or unexpected prize and lottery scams.

Further reading on general scams

While the QFC Regulatory Authority focuses on specific scams, the examples of scams listed below are to raise consumer awareness of some of the common scams that may generally occur. Please note that the QFC Regulatory Authority does not deal with these kinds of scams.