It has come to my notice that people that come into this business are very unaware of its workings and procedures. This article will help flash some light on how to distinguish between genuine and fakes. From my own understanding, there are two categories of sellers solely authorized by the NNPC namely the allotee holders and fiduciary sellers. The allotee holders usually have Certificate of Origin or POP(Proof of Product). For the sake of integrity I will like to expose the ways of fraudsters on this site. Fraudsters are the ones damaging the reputation of this business and hate to follow procedure. The following are ways of knowing a FAKE buyer:

1. No genuine buyer will first of all ask for POP or ATS: A genuine buyer will approach a seller to know his procedure and would like to follow accordingly, he would not be in a position to ask for a sensitive document when he himself cannot show commitment to seal the deal. A POP or ATS should only be shown when buyer shows commitment RWA or Bank Comfort Letter(BCL) once he has demonstrated willingness, POP can be presented. Sometimes POP is presented at the point of QnQ.

2. No genuine buyer will ask you to bring funds to commit to an escrow account: Anyone who does this is plain FRAUD.

3. No genuine buyer will use 'word of mouth' to convince you to send product and pay later: How would you expect a seller to send his product worth multimillions of dollars and billions of Naira over when you cant prove financial capability. It is madness, no reasonable seller does that, especially as there is an oil crunch.

4. No genuine buyer will ask for 'pregnant vessel': This is rampant among internet fraudsters, who in his right senses will load a vessel waiting for 'imaginary buyers' to come.? A pregnant vessel is a vessel already loaded and ready for discharge to a committed buyer, when a buyer fails to meet the requirements, then another willing buyer can buy it over.

I have addressed above ways of identifying a fake buyer, now I will address ways of identifying a fake seller and they are as follows:

1. A fake seller will usually have a fake POP or ATS from a genuine seller after posing as a buyer: Most times a fake seller will act like a buyer to a genuine seller , when the genuine seller sends his ATS, the 'supposed buyer' disappears then start parading himself as a seller to deceive genuine buyers.

2. A fake seller asks for LC(Letter of Credit) or BG to cover the total cost or logistics: Most times a fake seller will con a genuine buyer about the product with fake vessel co-ordinates then ask for BG to cover logistics or total cost in some cases.Buyers should apply caveat emptor and confirm that seller is genuine by bank verification and NNPC.

3. A fake seller usually uses non-existent company names: Most times companies not registered with the CAC ,DPR or NNPC to do business will usually bring out fake names to deceive the unsuspecting public.

As an experienced negotiator in this field, I have revealed to you ways which time wasters and fraudsters operate. If you want genuine deals, then send me a message, I will be glad to help. You can also send me an email at udo82@yahoo.com. I won't hesitate to contact SFU(Special Fraud Unit),FBI or EFCC if you have intentions of committing fraud. Integrity must be restored in this business. Thanks for reading. Frontpage please.

Cc: lalasticlala, Ishilove

Good post, thanks for the enlightenment.

Ollymurs:
Good post, thanks for the enlightenment.

You are welcome, I had to put this up because these fraudsters are spoiling businesses for those that want to do it genuinely. Nowadays I am on standby alert to report to EFCC and other law enforcement agents.