The mere sight of an SCO should give you an impression on who you are dealing with. You should be able to immediately detect on the physical appearance of the offer if it is a joke or a fair chance that it is actually real. If you see flashy pictures at the background of the letterhead almost hiding the details of the company or borders or backgrounds with too many colors, that should raise a red flag. Remember that this is a corporate offer and it should look that way. It should not look like an ad campaign or a certificate.
The first thing to look for is the INN or TIN so that you could immediately verify its registration and details. Be careful on checking small differences in spelling or placement of characters because it is intended that way to avoid detection. If you see in the introduction "... so we do not waste each other's time..", stop. These are the typical words of scammers. A typical petroleum deal is not rushed to afford both the prospective buyer and seller to do their due diligence and should proceed only when fully satisfied. This is multi-million dollar deal. If you see in the payment terms an MT 103/202 or anything attached to an MT 103, it is either the seller have no understanding that an MT 103 is unconditional or ... you are dealing with a SCAMMER.
When reviewing the procedure for CIF, these are the things you look into:
1. You only issue a BG, DLC, or SBLC after you have verified the Proof of Product and not after signing the SPA but before conducting a D&D on the POP and fully satisfied. Better still, do a TTM at the seller's/refinery's office and do a tour of the facilities.
2. There is no Title Transfer Fee, no Government Courier Services Fee, and no other fees for that matter. This is CIF. All other expenses should be embedded in the cost of the product.
3. Avoid 50/50 sharing of the cost of the vessel even if this would be deducted from the invoice cost at discharge port. The reason you have a bank instrument is to protect both the buyer and the seller. It becomes drawable only after all conditions of the contract has been complied with.
Thank you for all the effort to make to build this platform .
My current inquiry is very important for all suppliers , mandates & brokers who are interested on Petroleum domain.
So, my inquiry is defined as we are working on large offer for 2 Petroleum products & we got all documents requested from buyer , I mean: ICPO,Buyer Passport & all company's documents but the seller is not agreed at all .
He needs that ICPO must be included in his Procedures files knowing that the SOP's are similar.
Now, I'm looking for a seller who can get & send me the SPA after sending him these documents for checks of course.
Please advise.
B.Regards
ELKOURDI ELMOSTAFA
International…