Expat Investment Scams ..

waterbridge

Hi Im currently working in the Middle East and there are certain "wealth management" companies and their financial advisors operating out here how seem to be fleecing hundreds of people of their hard earned money.

I am surprised there isn't more Media attention to whats going on as i understand some of these companies are operating all over the world.

Hospitals here are actively recruiting from the NHS and Im afraid many more peopel will lose out.

Is there anything that could be done to raise awareness about this issue.

Malthusian

Expats investing in poor value investments in the Middle East isn't a very interesting story for UK newspapers. 1. The perfect Daily Mail victim photo consists of two people looking morose sitting on a flowery sofa in a 3-bed in Tunbridge Wells. Not a penthouse in Dubai. 2. The Mail's readers aren't in any danger of investing in such products themselves. So there is no human interest element and no "this could happen to you" element.

Likewise I assume Dubai newspapers aren't interested because they prefer stories about native Dubaians.

Judging from your post on the other thread, no crime has actually been committed in the sale of these products.

You can raise awareness by telling your friends not to invest in them. I'm not sure what else there is to be done, other than to campaign for Dubai to introduce a consumer protection regime similar to what we have in the UK - probably a very long-term endeavour.

waterbridge

Hi Malthusian these companies are not just active in the middle east but anywhere there are significant numbers of UK expats and lax regulations.

They are active in Spain , the Caribbean , Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries.

The numbers of Brits being fleeced must be huge.

A quick google search of "expat investment scams" will show you how bad the problem is.

dunstonh

Hi Malthusian these companies are not just active in the middle east but anywhere there are significant numbers of UK expats and lax regulations.

They are not active in the UK though. And that is what matters to the British press.

The numbers of Brits being fleeced must be huge.

It is your opinion that they are being fleeced. That is not a wrongdoing. The charges on the plans are high but they are not scams. They dont meet UK standards but then its not the UK.

waterbridge

For anybody interested the FT money podcast did a show on April 06th titled

"British expats, your financial adviser may well be a bandit"

You may also want to Google Steve Cronin who has an article dubai newspaper the National about his experiences with these companies and how he set up an organisation to help others similarly affected.