The simple answer is:
Don't invest in the Middle East. The main reason not to invest in the Middle East, is because it's in the Middle East.
Same your investments for your home country protected by your own financial regulators.
Not much to do with the Middle East other than these schemes target expats and there are many in the desert. But they go after them all over the world.
Zurich International and Friends Provident… Should You Invest With Them?
That's an article from 2011. And these scams were around for a long time before that.
And this recent one. Unfortunately, education is sometime expensive.
Zurich Vista Policy Holder Asks If He Should Sell It All