(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Until a few weeks ago, the ninth floor of a Business Bay tower was a hive of activity. Nearly 100 employees were packed into half-partitioned cubicles. They spent their days cold-calling UAE residents with promises of 'guaranteed returns' from forex trading. The floor buzzed with sales chatter.

Today, however, the office sits dark and deserted. When Khaleej Times visited the site this week, the door was locked. For legal reasons, Khaleej Times is not naming the company.

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Dubai Courts stickers were pasted across the glass, notifying visitors that the company had been served legal notices and warning them not to remove them. Through the glass, files lay open, and chairs were left pulled out mid-shift. Coffee mugs, water bottles, personal bags and even hand creams lay scattered across desks, giving the room the look of a workplace abandoned in a hurry.

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The sudden closure has left hundreds of investors stranded. Many say they were ghosted as soon as they transferred funds. Calls went unanswered, messages were ignored, and the 'relationship managers' who once pursued them stopped responding altogether.

This has also left investors with no point of contact and deepens fears that their money may never be recovered. Many said the locked office confirmed what they had already begun to suspect after weeks of silence. One resident, who lost more than Dh100,000, said he almost felt relieved to find the door shut.

“At least now I know it's over,” he told Khaleej Times.“Before this, I kept hoping someone would call back. When I saw the office shut, I felt relieved. It looks like the law has finally caught up with them.”

SK, a Dubai resident who lost $170,000 (Dh624,325), said he has filed a complaint at Bur Dubai Police Station.

“The case has gone to prosecution. I won't rest until this is resolved,” SK said, adding that the ordeal has taken a severe emotional toll.

On its website, the company claimed to have a“pluralistic team of esteemed trade experts.” It said its specialists were“on standby to offer the best solutions” to clients. It projected global credibility and described itself as a household name in financial markets.

Now, just weeks later, all traces of that operation have disappeared.

How investors were misled

A KT investigation found that client funds were channelled into accounts belonging to entities with near-identical names, including an events management company operating from the office next door.

Victims believed their money was going into regulated trading accounts. Their funds instead moved into unrelated businesses, leaving them with little clarity on where the money went.

Dubai resident HB said he invested $20,283 (Dh73,450) between March and April after being repeatedly cold-called.

“The dashboard showed profits. But when I asked for a withdrawal, they told me to deposit more to 'unlock' the funds,” he said.“That's when I realised I'd been conned.”

Another resident invested Dh135,000. His former manager resurfaced at another brokerage, promising to recover the money. But this would only happen if he put in more cash on a new platform.

New platform, old red flags

KT reviewed the proposed new platform and found major red flags. The company behind it is registered in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia, at the same Southey Building address used by several forex firms that disappeared after taking money from UAE residents. Public records show it was incorporated only a few months ago.

A financial expert said an operation with no history and an offshore postal address“should ring alarm bells.”“It's the equivalent of boarding a flight where the pilot is still learning to taxi,” he said.

Forced losses, unauthorised access

Another UAE resident said his online trading account was accessed without permission.

“I had a profit in my account. When I asked for a withdrawal, they logged in remotely and executed loss-making trades,” he said.“When I went to their office, I met more people going through the same problem.”

S. Siddiqui, who lost $30,000, said the tactics matched those of other forex firms previously exposed by KT.

“They push you to put in more money and make you trade complex currency pairs R with huge spreads. Losses pile up instantly,” he said. These experiences are not isolated. Recent KT investigations show these operations are part of a larger pattern.

A June 2025 investigation confirmed the presence of at least seven such call centres across Dubai, each employing between 50 and 200 agents. Internal communication suggested links to a wider syndicate. Many have since shut down.

A whistleblower said their staff have now shifted to Gurgaon, India, following crackdowns.

“They will still call UAE residents, but through VOIP,” he said.

A July KT investigation found three centres in Noida and Jaipur posing as Dubai-based firms while using software to mimic +971 numbers.

“When people see +971, they answer. That's all the scam needs,” a former employee said.

Repeated warnings

Authorities in the UAE have repeatedly warned residents to be cautious when approached by unlicensed online trading platforms, especially those using cold calls and offshore registrations.

Khaleej Times emailed the company at the addresses listed on its website and registration records. No response was received.

Calls made to the phone numbers listed online, as well as those of former relationship managers, went unanswered.

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