Image by Toban Black via FlickrDubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA to you, mate) has issued a warning alerting people to the fact that www.difcuae.org (Dubai International Financial Capital) is a naughty website that makes "false, misleading and deceptive statements" and advising people "not to deal with the Firm or persons connected with the website."The site appears to be a link in an email scam, with The Real Dubai International Capital similarly getting hot under the collar that it has been cited as an authority by the scammers. DIC publishes an example of one such scam mail, an email purporting to be from a gentleman called David Smoot. Mr. Smoot signs off the email with his hotmail address (always a confidence booster, that), dubai129@hotmail.com, which is strange given that he has access to the much more believable domain of difcuae.org - Mr Smoot is named on the website as CEO of Dubai International Capital.
A quick WHOIS lookup confirms one's suspicions - as The Chemical Brothers tell us, It Began In Afrika:
Domain ID:D162062108-LROR
Domain Name:DIFCUAE.ORG
Created On:18-Apr-2011 14:04:30 UTC
Last Updated On:18-Jun-2011 03:49:53 UTC
Expiration Date:18-Apr-2012 14:04:30 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:PSI-USA, Inc. dba Domain Robot (R68-LROR)
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:ABM-11191927
Registrant Name:Olatubosun Olajubu
Registrant Organization:Olatubosun Olajubu
Registrant Street1:Isolo
Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Lagos
Registrant State/Province:Lagos
Registrant Postal Code:00000
Registrant Country:NG
Registrant Phone:+234.8068929148
The website's got a Du mobile number as a UAE contact number, but you can always cut out the middle man and call Mr Olajubu directly in Lagos to give him your bank account details and a copy of your letterhead and signature.
Are people truly that stupid? Do they actually fall for these scams?
(Update: As you'll see from the comments, Mr Smoot IS the CEO of Dubai International Capital - just not the one in Lagos...)
