This is my first year as a member of Alibaba.com. I have responded to most trade alerts pertaining to my particular product. However, on two occasions I was contacted by two prospective buyers; one from Benin and the other from Lome, Togo respectively. They sounded like serious buyers, very professional and knowledgeable about their market. They were very impressed with the price and the product. They requested Pro-Forma invoices outlining CIF and payment terms. Note carefully; the payment terms were T/T 50% down and balance due prior to shipping. Both buyers signed pro-forma and sent back saying they will pay T/T 100%. (1st reason to suspect a scam) However, one buyer told me the Product will need NAFDAC certification and the seller will have to pay for it, before his bank can release the funds. (2nd reason to suspect a scam). The other buyer requested a copy of our business registration before his bank can release funds; which I sent to them. Then, someone from the bank contacted me saying that I will need to get the copy of certificate legalized and gave instructions to contact a specific lawyer to get this done. (3rd reason to supsect a scam). I contacted this person, who then informed me that I will have to Western Union US$600 immediately. I informed the buyer that it would be best if he took care of all expenses in his country and my company will process his order as soon as funds are received for the goods. He insisted that I will have to pay, so I asked him to send a copy of his business certificate and his personal identification. He sent me a copy of his Passport. I have not seen many forgeries in my life time, but this was the worst fake ID I had ever seen, a baby could tell its a fake. I halted correspondence to this buyer right away and forwarded the emails to fraudwatchers.org. I was still communicating with the other buyer who was from Benin. I told him I could supply samples and water analysis report to him,however he will have to pay to get the certificate. He agreed. He told me about a lawyer who could get the certificate in two days. The lawyer contacted me and requested samples and gifts.(?) I sent the samples and gifts to the buyer who supposedly passed on to the lawyer. The buyer later informed me that the lawyer was charging $2500 to get the certificate and he only had $1500, so he was asking me to pay the balance of $800 which was due after the lawyer received it. I started doing some research, I contacted the Chamber of Commerce. Two days later; the buyer claimed that the certificate was ready and I should Western Union $800 to the lawyer immediately. I informed the buyer that I prefered T/T and furthermore my company will not release any payments until I have confirmed his legitimacy. He got very angry saying $800 was a small amount of money and he was going to be sending a huge sum to my account and they will have to visit my country before the order is shipped. I informed him that I had no objections to them visiting, its only natural that they would want to make sure the product was up to standard before its shipped. I put in a phone call to the their local Chamber of Commerce and the person I spoke with said yes they had received my faxed enquiry and yes the the buyer was registered but they could not verify whether the business was active. He further advised me to not send any money to them until they can be certain. He also recommended that i ask the buyer to visit the chamber which I did. However, the buyer emailed me back and said he went to the chamber and no one by that name was working there and they had no clue about what he was talking about. I called back the person at the chamber and he to told me that the buyer must be lying because he did not visit them. He also advised me that he suspected a scam and I should not send them any money. So I emailed the buyer and told him the Chamber advised me against paying them so if he was still interested in purchasing my product, he should pay the lawyer and get the funds released so I can process his order. He informed me that he will have to put the transaction on hold so he can cancel a grant he was getting from the bank and get back his 40% deposit after which he can pay the lawyer and other debts and he will contact me in about two months to resume the transaction.


There are other details which I have left out, however there were so many clues which led me to believe these buyers are fake, yet I ignored the clues and continue communicating with them. The good thing is I did not pay them, but I did send them Product samples, T-Shirts, Caps and CD's.


Please beware of these fake buyers.

Quoting from [FahimSheikh]:

we also had the same type of experince from Benin regarding frozen beef imports, they wanted to sign contract for atleast millions of dollars but he wanted us to pay the lawyer fees for thr importation into benin

Im facing the same issue just a day ago. They want us to get a lawyer appointed by them and i said no, it's against our company policy. So if u don't trust us because the purchase is huge, then don't purchase so much from us


Anyway, I have already checked out the fraudwatch org. and the benin 419scam org. and they are using mobile number / free webmail and their office address is not valid in the yellow page/white page, not even the fax number


http://www.419scam.org/419-phone-bj.htm#phone-bj

http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1666


p/s: Must be extra careful with the buyers from west africa, most fraud and scam prob

Quoting from [Life]:

Hi all, i'm new to alibaba.com and international trading.


oh god!! i think i have same situation!!


a agent from Togo send an inquiry to me to buy our product, a folding table. He ask me to send the proforma invoice and i did it.


I have request for their company detail and they have send to me their company registration, directors ID, and passport.


after that, they request me to send USD 1550.00 for NON INDIGENOUS CONTRACT BIDDING FORM, actually i don't know what is it, but they say that is a formalities. i think the money is too much for me and the agent willing to share half with me. then, i refuse to send by Western Union, but finally send by WU to the Barrister.


Then, the barrister ask for contract fees, USD 2400.00. I did not send is and the agent say he will pay for it. After that, they have send me the sales contract.


The story haven't finish at this stage.


But i need to know whether still to continue the deal??


As what i ask, the agent told me they will gain profit by 1% commission of the deal amount. i think this is quite reasonable.


But, since that is too many coincidence with your case, i need to re-consider about the deal.


Would you like to share with me about the detail of the case? We could discuss their detail in email. lssee@streamyx.com


Beside that, would you please give me the contact about the Chamber of commerce in Togo? I would like to make a call to them.


Thank you.



regards,

cysee


email: lssee@streamyx.com

My friend,

If you are the one doing the selling, then you shouldn't be the one paying!  I am so sorry.  You should try and contact the local Chamber of Commerce before you go any further.  You will find contact details at the following website. 


http://www.lamaisondelafrique.com/ecci_togo.html


It is faster to send a fax, then follow up with a phone call.


Take care.

It's a good thing to share the informations of the cram makers and the chearers,but it's not enough, we need as many as possible the stories to be shared by more businessman.I created a chat room new in the Trade Messager,it's created after I saw the aticle and mickael's issue,when I saw the company name,I got this idea to make the liers well-known in the whole world.Any company or personal name is recognized as cram or cheater,let's share here and let's give a publicity to the bad stories.we all get our own contacts region,and if we times 50 person here,the region is 50 times bigger.so,anyone interested the protection of our future business,let's come here.the room no. is 8472285,my name is Jason

 

 

www.btr-autolamp.com

I have tried the website http://everest.en.alibaba.com ,but I couldn't get it open, is there any mistake ?

 

 

 

www.btr-atuolamp.com

Quoting from [hbbeymegistu]:


Hello friend, I often asked how to avoid buying counterfeit items on the Net.



Here are 7 tips to avoid getting taken:



* Don't ever buy an item that you learn about via bulk email ("spam"). Your chances of receiving the item *at all* are only 45%, and the chance of your getting what you think at a reasonable price (so you're happy with the transaction) is less than 5%. In other words, as Jim likes to say, "If it's spam, it's scam."



 * Always use a credit card to purchase online. This protects you. Your maximum exposure is $50, and often you won't even lose that amount if you get scammed.



* If you are buying something at a reputable online auction site, always check out the references for the seller and only buy from sellers who have good references. And take advantage of online auction guarantees, such as those offered by amazon.com.



* Don't conduct business with an anonymous user. Get the person's real name, business name (if applicable), address, and phone number. Verify this information before buying. And don't send your payment to a post office box.



* Be more cautious if the seller uses a free email service, such as hotmail, yahoo, etc. Of course, most people who use these free services are honest. However, most problems occur when a free service is used. After all, with a free email service, it is very easy for the seller to keep his or her real identity and information hidden.



* Save copies of all of the emails and other documents involved in the transaction. Then, if you discover that an item is counterfeit, you have documentation to help you deal with the problem.



* Use common sense and trust your intuition. If you have a funny feeling about an item, don't buy it. You're very likely right that it is counterfeit.



I hope this article will go a long way to help.

Your article is for final buyers, this site is for companies

How could you do business if you only spend $50?

Just shipping would be more expensive.

Quoting from [chinaaoli]:

Quoting from [Life]:

    Hi,  i am also as a member of Alibaba.com in first year..

    Thanks for your kindly advice..

    

Dear friend:
i would like to introduce a good company who trades mainly in electornic products.
Now the company is under sales promotion,all the products are sold nearly at its cost.
They provide the best service to customers,they provide you with original products of
good quality,and what is more,the price is a surprising happiness to you!
It is realy a good chance for shopping.just grasp the opportunity,Now or never!
The web address: http://www.electronics-brand.com

Quoting from [Mike Robertson]:

i HAVE had the exact same experience with Benin. i did send samples.

 

 

i did not send any money for any one even though i was asked to do so every time i called the guy!

 

 

but the biggest problem they caused for me was my phone bill! it is really expensive to call Benin!

 

 

any ways, Alabama doesn't seem to be safe at all!

 

 

some one must develop a mechanism to manage this!

    Take it easy and absorb as experience.

I can't understand how scamers become gold suppliers on first place. And then how can a gold supplier ruin their reputation for silly thing like this.


Quoting from [michaeltaller]:

Quoting from [grigo]:

Replying To  [Life]:

I take my hat off to you.



You certainly were cautious enough and checked things out, otherwise these scammers would have taken you for everything they could have taken you.



Let this be a Warning to everyone else out there, and make SURE you do your Due Diligence BEFORE parting with your money, especially via Western Union.



I have stuck this topic to the  top and recommended it as very well worth reading.

Hello,

How do I make a complaint against a Gold Supplier for stealing my Money?


Fraud, Etc..

 The company name is:


(name of the thief)


   Helen Yuan

Everest Digital Technology Co., Ltd.

Gold Supplier in Alibaba


 

http://Everest.En.Alibaba.com

http://Everest.En.Alibaba.com

 They stole $940.00 from me for samples, by sending me crap I did not order. She claims the shipping company sent the wrong order, yeah and I'm really stupid.


When I asked her to take back the phones, she insisted I sell them to get my money back. The are not worth $400.00 retail, a real stupid scam.

But she cheated me. After a lot of complaining and sending about 300 annoying emails to her, she wants me to  send the crap back to her, which leaves me with zero. I would not trust sending her nothing.

If anyone can help, I would appreciate it. It is amazing how many scammers are on Alibaba. Real sad.

 

Can I post the complaint against them on your site or theirs.

Thank You,


Michael

Quoting from [Business in China]:

Quoting from [Life]:



****************************************************************************************

Sorry for you and your time!


 This is a old time trick of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Cameroon and all people make best life with the payment from hoping business.


Many african persons leaving worlwide - EU/Europe/USA - and use the same trick.

Need Bankwarranty without any order, call daily to talk with you, travelling worldwide    if somebody send invitation letter.

We have daily same messages , calls, letters, use all communication way worldwide.


 My story:

Some company from UK order by us Winchester over EUR 50.000,00 and send a bankpayment copy under the UK  Loyds Bank, but our Bank know this is a fake   copy and we stopped all transaction.


Many people hope for the business and like sell or buy some goods and nobody have a warranty if right or not.


Some of my partner open L/C to China company and send only  container with fake goods ...no chance for the refund...


Chamber of Commerce also not important! In Africa can open daily new company , change company name , change passport and leaving in another City, very simple.


Strong way:

Never send for low cost, never send for bank cost, never send for banktransaction cost and never use Western Union, PayPal, Moneygram, Escrow or any other  moneymake company.


Try to work with trustable forwarder, who confirmed your buying goods, use trustabel banks...

Hope this is helpfull for your next business

Wish you luck/Sylvia