The Great
Fraud Fightback

The true story of one woman's struggle against an international crimewave

It impacts almost half of the expats in the Middle East: Financial Advisory Fraud. This is a serious problem. And I wanted to shine a light on it.

My name is Amber Waheed, and I wrote "The Great Fraud FIghtback" to share my story so that others can learn from it, and to bring hope to other victims of fraud. I am a passionate fighter against fraud, and my goal is to educate you so you don't make the mistakes I did.

"The Great Fraud Fightback" tells the story of how I lost everything to a fraudulent, unlicensed financial advisor. It follows my journey as I went from victimized to victorious, when I won an unprecedented court battle against all odds. It exposes the state of the financial advisory industry in Dubai, and how thousands of expats like me are impacted.

In this one-of-a-kind book, you'll learn about that landmark Dubai court case and judgement. And you'll find legal advice and templates offering you a roadmap to navigate similar legal cases.

This book is the perfect resource if:

You have little or no understanding of the financial advisory industry, but you want to learn more about it before investing.
You feel stuck, confined and in-prisoned by your current financial investment circumstances.
You want to pursue a case against a rogue financial advisor or other fraudulent financial service provider.

"The Great Fraud Fightback" provides you an overview of the type of investment funds and financial products to avoid signing up for. It makes the complex topic of investing easy to understand.

Learn how to guard yourself against financial advisory fraud -

Media Testimonials

The Great Fraud Fightback has been featured in more than 30 media outlets.

The National | The Great Fraud Fightback: How one woman took on her rogue financial adviser and won

One of the biggest personal finance concerns many people have faced over the years is dishonest advisers selling complex, high-commission financial products to unsuspecting investors that can lock them in for years.
Amber Waheed is one of them. The Dubai-based business strategist and author of the recently released The Great Fraud Fightback lost $80,000 after being duped by her adviser into signing up for long-term investments she believed were low risk.
It's a familiar, heart-breaking tale for many. But Amber decided to fight back and took her case to the UAE regulators - marking the first step in what turned out to be a landmark legal case in the UAE when her adviser was convicted of offering financial advice without a license.
Now, Amber deconstructs her story and hosts the Expats in Dubai podcast and talks about her experience and offers her advice to victims of financial fraud.

Gulf Today | If money is lost, it is time to fight to get it back

'The Great Fraud Fightback', which releases on Amazon next week, looks into the current state of the global financial advisory industry. But more than that, it reinforces faith in the UAE judiciary and offers hope to thousands of people. "I wrote this book because I wanted to make people aware of the legal process in Dubai. The Dubai Court process is a judicial system equal to any other around the world, where they follow the evidence and the law," said the life and business strategist, whose clients include Fortune 500 companies and international law firms.

International Adviser | How investors can win cases against rogue financial advisers

One fraud victim has written about her experience to help other avoid being scammed.
Financial services has long attracted fraudsters. It is an arena where charm, confidence and jargon can be used to great effect to bamboozle and rip off unsuspecting people. Where the individual or firm they represent is regulated, there are avenues of recourse victims can pursue. But it's a different story when the adviser is unregulated, as was the case for Amber Waheed, a businesswoman living in Dubai.
After winning her case, Waheed has written a book, The Great Fraud Fightback, to document her journey and offer a roadmap to help others navigate similarly complex legal cases. Speaking ahead of the launch of her book later this week, Waheed said: "Financial fraud is a very sophisticated crime, and most people are not quite sure how they have been scammed. "This book reveals the plots and traps, his partners, legal loopholes and technicalities.

Gulf News | Landmark Dubai court case comes to life in a book

Dubai: When British expatriate Amber Waheed lost her life savings to a sophisticated financial advisory fraud in Dubai in 2015, she did not sink into despair like some of the other victims. Instead, the one-woman army took on the fraudsters and won a landmark case in Dubai courts. And then she did something more. She encapsulated her experiences in a motivational debut book.

BBC World News | Fraud is a reality

Fraud. It can happen to any of us. I've been subjected to it. And yes, it is horrible. If you survive the financial fallout, you could still go under due to the emotional rollercoaster, and pay with your family, sanity, and sometimes your life.
This is the story of one woman who took on the system that not only allows fraud to happen, but keeps it under wraps. It is a secretive world of smoke & mirrors. With one aim at heart: getting you to sign on the dotted line, and keep your money.
It's the unsuspecting 'responsible' folk who at greatest risk - the ones putting money away for their future & for their children's education.
Join us & find out
* how one woman broke the code and got her money back
* how you could too
* how to avoid the pitfalls that mean you're likely to lose your hard earned cash

The Times | Dubai expat sue advisor for damages and wins

The judgement is being recorded as a landmark decision as it's one of the first convictions of its kind in any expat destination which allows clients who've lost money to sue for reparation in a civil court. Scottish independent financial advisor Neil Grant was working illegally without the necessary registration of his business, and was channelling clients' funds into risky investment such as UK student accommodation and waste removal.

Emigrate UK | New expat arrivals in Dubai warned over fraudulent IFAs

Amber Waheed admitted she'd seen Grant as trustworthy, especially as high-level expats had invested with him, and added she'd given him a 'substantial sum' but knew others who'd invested millions. The court case should be taken as a warning to newly-arrived expatriates not to trust any financial advisors working within the community, however friendly and supportive they may seem. The same story has been heard more than once in every expat destination across the world, with rogue advisors preying on unsophisticated investors and leaving for happier hunting grounds once they've been discovered.

iExpats | Runaway IFA Convicted Of Trading Without A Licence

A rogue IFA is on the run after a Dubai court convicted him of running a financial services business without a licence. Neil Grant is the first financial adviser to face such criminal charges in the United Arab Emirates. The conviction comes after disgruntled customers who claim they lost money with Grant uncovered he was not registered with regulators in Dubai to offer financial advice. At first, the authorities refused to take the case, but were persuaded to proceed. Grant was convicted by the Dubai Criminal Court for failing to register his business with the Department of economic Development.

Lexology | Key learnings from Amber Waheed's court case

The story and experience of Neil Grant`s clients must focus minds on the degree of regulation and scrutiny that their financial advisor is subject to. I hope that the prosecution will serve as both a warning to the unscrupulous and a lesson to the vulnerable. Many of the financial structures that are sold to the unwary investor are not permitted in countries with a strong code of financial regulation such as the UK and whilst there is real regulation in UAE to protect investors, this case demonstrates that some advisors slip through the regulatory net - to the catastrophic detriment of their clients.

The GreatFraud Fightback

The Great
Fraud Fightback