Foreknowledge
is forewarning - an insurance against many frauds
and scams. This is specially so in Internet where
fraudsters of a same kind of scam follow more
or less same on-line tricks, even similar language.
These fraudsters believe success lies in large
number - as thousands of new surfers are joining
Internet everyday. What is old hat and discarded
immediately by an experienced surfer - may work
on a newcomer. And we must say - there is some
truth in this statement - otherwise Nigerian 419
scam can not continue for so many years.
We have documented here few on-line scams and
abuses encountered frequently by business persons.
False Promise Leaves Manufacturer/Exporter Bankrupt
A new kind of fly-by-night operators have devised
this smart trick to defraud unsuspecting exporters.
Here, so called buyer negotiates with manufacturer/exporter
for custom designed product as per given specifications.
The quantities are huge - sometimes there is even
talk of buy-back arrangement.
The 'buyer' convinces the seller that he/she
is about to place a huge order on L/C basis with
attractive payment option and the seller should
start production immediately.
However, once production is complete the buyer
goes back on his word, and the manufacturer is
left with custom designed products that can not
be sold to others. The seller has no option but
to sell the stock to the buyer at reduced price
and under atrocious payment conditions.
Your insurance remains in not agreeing to early
production, specially for unknown buyer, no matter
how attractive the order is.
Fax Fraud
This is a smart trick that has fooled even experienced
exporters. The fraud starts with an innocent looking
fax requesting you to send detail information
about your products, services, prices etc.
You may ask where is the scam ? Well, the requester
provides a fax number only. The only way you can
provide the information is by return fax to a
number that turns out to be in a foreign country,
resulting in expensive charges on your phone bill.
Beware of faxes, letters or e-mails asking you
for detailed information about your products or
services and providing only a fax number for you
to respond. No matter what elaborate explanation
is given, these people aren't really interested
in buying anything from your business. The real
motivation is to get you to send a lengthy fax
to a foreign phone number, resulting in high charges
on your phone bill.
When you dial a foreign number, your local phone
company connects you to the overseas telecom company
in the country you are calling. The overseas company
connects you to the number you dialed. Part of
what you pay for the call or fax goes to the foreign
phone company - and the scammer profits by arranging
to share the revenue with the company.
Remember - telephone numbers in Canada and some
parts of Caribbean follow same dialing code (1-nnn-nn..etc.)
as used by US companies. You may assume the fax
or telephone number to be from USA - while it
may actually belong to a Caribbean country.
Your protection against such frauds lie in checking
the telephone/fax number carefully and insisting
on full particulars about requesting company before
sending a lengthy fax. Another protection against
such scam is to direct such callers to visit your
website for detail information (if you still do
not have a website - think again. You really need
one for international business).
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