Hello all,

In my last article, I showed you an example of a fishy inquiry. I just can't wait sharing with you this next example. I am excited about this. You’ll know why.

About 15 minutes earlier before writing this article, a Nigerian trader contacted me for a consultation. I asked him to send an email to me and write what kind of information that he needs. I thought he was not serious about it. But 5 minutes later the email arrived.

Basically this Nigerian trader is asking for my help to source for a reliable supplier for a man supplement product. He forwarded me a copy of email that he sent to Ms. Wang in China with complete details of his request. At the end of his email to Ms. Wang, he said that as soon as all information he requires are fulfilled, he will trasfer all the sourcing fee immediately.

He attached in his email complete information on the man supplement product that he is looking for and other necessary information regarding supplement importation to Nigeria.

After careful scan through the attached document, I got so excited that I found out that this must be another fake scheme from another fake buyer.

Yes, not long ago, a fellow trader from China asked me, what can a fake buyer do? How can they cheat on us when they are in the position to buy? Well, this example will show you exactly how they can get benfit out of you.

I am excited about this because those scam artists are actually reading the articles in this forum (including my articles), and they probably decided to do some test on me .

Well, that’s fine. Try me!

Here's what I found out.

The following is a copy-paste from the attached document they sent me. I did not add anything or deleted anything from it. It is exactly as it was when I received it. I want you to pay a careful attention especially to the part that I underlined and I highlighted in red text.

 -----

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE NATIONAL AGENCY FOR FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION AND CONTROL (NAFDAC)

Once you have identified some excellent manufacturers of the herbal medicines, please let them know that if they are interested in supplying us, they must UNDERSTAND THAT OUR COUNTRY, NIGERIA HAS VERY STRICT REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE IMPORTATION OF FOODS, DRUGS AND MEDICINES. The regulations of NAFDAC (our own FDA), in Nigeria requires that only food or health care products which can be freely sold and consumed in the producing country may be imported into Nigeria. Therefore any company that wants to supply these medicines to us must be willing to provide the following once we accept their products and we agree to do business together:

1. Certificate of Manufacture and Free Sale: This must indicate the name of the manufacturer and the products. It must be issued by a relevant health/regulatory body and it must be authenticated by the Nigerian Embassy in China. This is to ensure that the product to be imported is actually sold and used in China by the people of China. Products that cannot be sold or used in China are not allowed into Nigeria.

2. Comprehensive Certificate of Analysis: This must be issued by the manufacturer and the names and designation of the analyst must be indicated.

3. Letter of invitation for us and for the Nigerian regulatory agency (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control - NAFDAC) to inspect their factory in China.

4. Inspection by Independent Organisation: Any food, drugs, or healthcare products will be inspected for quality by an independent organisation in China, appointed by NAFDAC before shipment to Nigeria.

-----

Now, please pay attention to the following facts that I found out. As soon as I finished reading the above information, I decided to do a due diligent for myself. I searched for information on Nigeria's NAFDAC, and especially looked for information on importation of such product that was mentioned in the email.

-----

Here's what I found out from NAFDAC website:

When a foreign regulated product is duly registered by NAFDAC, it can be lawfully imported, distributed and sold in Nigeria. The procedures for the importation of such regulated products are as follows:

Importers shall submit to the NAFDAC office whose operations cover the port (air, sea or land borders) where the goods are to be landed, the following documents prior to physical inspection and "formal" sampling of the regulated product:

• Properly completed Customs Bill of Entry.
• Evidence of registration of the regulated product.
• The original of combined Certificate of Manufacture and Free Sale issued by the appropriate Health Authority in the country of the product origin.
• The original certificate of analysis of the product.
• Other additional information required are:- 
• Evidence of payment of a prescribed fees in bank draft made payable to NAFDAC. 
• An undertaking duly signed by the importer that the product would not be sold until confirmed fit for human use by NAFDAC laboratory.
• Address of the importer's warehouse.
• In the case of milk, fish and fishery products, copy of certificate of radiation test issued by an appropriate government agency in the country of origin will be required in addition to (a- above.) Incase of drugs, the following additional documents will be required as well:
• Evidence that the importer is a Pharmacist or has employed the services of a Pharmacist.
• Copy of the current annual certificate of registration/retention of premises issued by the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria (PCN)
• Copy of the current annual license of the Superintendent Pharmacist issued by the PCN.
• Evidence of a permit issued by NAFDAC Directorate of Narcotics and Controlled Substances if the imported product is a controlled drug or chemical.

-----

The importation procedure was also original copy-pasted version from NAFDAC website. The parts that I underlined and highlighted in red text are especially the parts that you should read carefully.

From NAFDAC website, we understand the following points:

1. Scammer’s attached document says that a certificate of manufacture and free sale is required. It must be issued by a relevant health/regulatory body and it must be authenticated by the Nigerian Embassy in China. Compare with NAFDAC website, it does not mention anything about authentication by Nigerian Embassy in the country of origin. (One mistake by scammer )
2. Scammer’s attached document says that they need a letter of invitation for them and for the Nigerian regulatory agency (NAFDAC) to inspect supplier’s factory in China. Compare to NAFDAC website, it does not mention anything about this. (Another one mistake by scammer )
3. If you read all underlined and red text-highlighted sentences in NAFDAC website, you will see that all necessary procedures for NAFDAC related product to be imported into Nigeria should be taken care by importer and all procedures are to be done in Nigeria. The fact that the scammer included a letter of invitation requirement for them and for NAFDAC people is actually the bottom line of this inquiry. I will tell you more details below.

What will the scammer benefit from this kind of scheme?

In the “Watch Out Mineral Water Inquiry from Benin”, it was obvious that the scammer wanted to get money from the NAFDAC registration fee that they claimed that exporter should pay for it. Read that article again so that you can get reminded.

Here, my analysis result revealed that they are not after the seller’s money. They are actually after the invitation letter that they will use to enter the seller’s country. We do not know exactly what they will do in seller’s country but given with overwhelming information on how many Nigerian people in Indonesia where I live coming with business passport and ended up engaging in criminal activities, I suggest you to be very careful in case you have a request of invitation letter by fishy, unconvincing buyer.

I hope this help.

Happy safe trading

Hi,

Thank you for your article.  I'm reaching out to see if you kinow someone or know where I can go to source small run cosmetics. I'm having a hard time finding a supplier on alibaba, most of the people who have responded to my post, respond about szomething entirely different, like jewelry or handbags or in quantities that are way to high for me when I have a very specific minimum listed.  Can you help?


Cheri

Quoting from [cherirychlee]:

Hi,

Thank you for your article.  I'm reaching out to see if you kinow someone or know where I can go to source small run cosmetics. I'm having a hard time finding a supplier on alibaba, most of the people who have responded to my post, respond about szomething entirely different, like jewelry or handbags or in quantities that are way to high for me when I have a very specific minimum listed.  Can you help?



Cheri

Hi Cheri, for product inquiry please find my company name CV Uno Internasional and send your inquiry so that we can discuss not via community channel. Thnaks.

Hello,

First of all thanks for all your articles, they really are helpfull...

I`m not a supplier, I`m a Buyer and I have been scam, but that is not the problem becouase i made a complaint on my embassy and they filed the report and catch the scammer...My question is very simple, yet complicated, are they some real good supplier for electronics and mobile phones in Alibaba or are they all Scammers? At least for my search in mobile phones from China, USA, Finland and UK I made my research in the first 2 pages of every country mentioned before, talked to them, and all of them have the SCAM written all over... So, in your experience do you know any good Mobile Phones Supplier?

Best Regards...

Quoting from [Angel Falls]:


Hello,


First of all thanks for all your articles, they really are helpfull...


I`m not a supplier, I`m a Buyer and I have been scam, but that is not the problem becouase i made a complaint on my embassy and they filed the report and catch the scammer...My question is very simple, yet complicated, are they some real good supplier for electronics and mobile phones in Alibaba or are they all Scammers? At least for my search in mobile phones from China, USA, Finland and UK I made my research in the first 2 pages of every country mentioned before, talked to them, and all of them have the SCAM written all over... So, in your experience do you know any good Mobile Phones Supplier?


Best Regards...

Hello Angel Falls,

Thank you for reading my article and I am happy if it helps.

If I am not mistaken, I once wrote in this forum that there is no such generic approach to know if a seller or a buyer is real or fake. Unless you start communicating with them and do all necessary approach to find out one is a real seller/buyer, you will never know.

What I have been writing in this forum are things that people should pay attention to in order they can trade safely.

I do believe and know that in countries like China, and also in Indonesia, where many users of Alibaba claimed as the countries of the scammers, products such as mobile phones, etc, do exist.

The question is, have you done some country due dilligence to find out what country is famous for producing the mobile phones.

Well, mobile phones these days like very ordinary thing to have. I can buy many cheap mobile phones around my place. Do you know where those products came from? Mostly from China and Taiwan (I hope I am not wrong). Also there are some produced in Indonesia. This means that producer of mobile phone in that country do exist.

Unfortunately, the number of scammers in Alibaba that you came accross outnumbered the number of real sellers. But that does not mean that Alibaba or other international trading portals are not usefull at all.

So, my advise is, keep on looking and keep on watching. If you need to consult furthermore, you may contact me personally. You can find my company's name Uno Internasional and send inquiry to me.

Happy safe trading & Happy New Year

Quoting from [ir1uno]:

Quoting from [Angel Falls]:



Hello,



First of all thanks for all your articles, they really are helpfull...



I`m not a supplier, I`m a Buyer and I have been scam, but that is not the problem becouase i made a complaint on my embassy and they filed the report and catch the scammer...My question is very simple, yet complicated, are they some real good supplier for electronics and mobile phones in Alibaba or are they all Scammers? At least for my search in mobile phones from China, USA, Finland and UK I made my research in the first 2 pages of every country mentioned before, talked to them, and all of them have the SCAM written all over... So, in your experience do you know any good Mobile Phones Supplier?



Best Regards...

Hello Angel Falls,

Thank you for reading my article and I am happy if it helps.

If I am not mistaken, I once wrote in this forum that there is no such generic approach to know if a seller or a buyer is real or fake. Unless you start communicating with them and do all necessary approach to find out one is a real seller/buyer, you will never know.

What I have been writing in this forum are things that people should pay attention to in order they can trade safely.

I do believe and know that in countries like China, and also in Indonesia, where many users of Alibaba claimed as the countries of the scammers, products such as mobile phones, etc, do exist.

The question is, have you done some country due dilligence to find out what country is famous for producing the mobile phones.

Well, mobile phones these days like very ordinary thing to have. I can buy many cheap mobile phones around my place. Do you know where those products came from? Mostly from China and Taiwan (I hope I am not wrong). Also there are some produced in Indonesia. This means that producer of mobile phone in that country do exist.

Unfortunately, the number of scammers in Alibaba that you came accross outnumbered the number of real sellers. But that does not mean that Alibaba or other international trading portals are not usefull at all.

So, my advise is, keep on looking and keep on watching. If you need to consult furthermore, you may contact me personally. You can find my company's name Uno Internasional and send inquiry to me.

Happy safe trading & Happy New Year

HI, I found you article to be most entertaining. It is good to know that somewhere on ALibaba there is still someone honest and helpful. I myself am in the situation as angel eyes...i simply cannot find any honest Mobile Phone sellers. Ive been scammed twice now, well over 3 thousand dollars. SO my question is...which is the best route to go by...Payal? Because they wont send you anything if its not a bulk order through paypal yet thats the safest thing for me to do. All other Western Union and Money Gram attempts have simply costed money. So what woiuld be the best way to go about paying for my phones and how do you actually know that the sellers are legit even after they give you all there details? What do you look for? And as for the ones that have scammed me, how do you get them caught, cause i hate them.

Hello Balquerock,

Using Paypal is good. However, we don't know if the seller is happy about this too. Especially seller from asian countries, I don't think paypal payment method is favorable to them since they can not get the cash instantly.

In international trading. LC is indeed the most safest way of paying. However, if your transaction is usd5,000 or less, probably LC is too constly and complicated.

Finding reliable and trustable supplier/seller is probably the biggest investment a buyer has to make. The best way to do it is to visit the country of the producer and see for yourself. Yes it will be costly for you to make the trip, but once you clear this, you will have yourself a long term guarantee of good product suppliy.

Another way is to use reliable and trustable third party service to source for you and also do site inspection. This will also cost you but not as much as if you make the inspection by yourself.

Happy safe trading

Thanks for sharing this information with us. I do make it a point that will do not in any cecumstances do business with Nigerians and 90% of the requests are scams. I fell sorry for the other 10% but hey... better safe then sorry.

Quoting from [ir1uno]:

Hello Balquerock,

Using Paypal is good. However, we don't know if the seller is happy about this too. Especially seller from asian countries, I don't think paypal payment method is favorable to them since they can not get the cash instantly.

In international trading. LC is indeed the most safest way of paying. However, if your transaction is usd5,000 or less, probably LC is too constly and complicated.

Finding reliable and trustable supplier/seller is probably the biggest investment a buyer has to make. The best way to do it is to visit the country of the producer and see for yourself. Yes it will be costly for you to make the trip, but once you clear this, you will have yourself a long term guarantee of good product suppliy.

Another way is to use reliable and trustable third party service to source for you and also do site inspection. This will also cost you but not as much as if you make the inspection by yourself.

Happy safe trading

Thanks ir1uno,

We do need people like you to teach and share their trading experience and other security knowledge. As a supplier in China, I would advise buyers like Angel Fallsand blaqueroc, that to take a business trip after online communication with the potential suppliers. Although this may be really tired and costly for you, it is a good way to keep your money safe.

Good luck & Happy New Year!
Regards,

Ken Huang

Quoting from [Ken Huang_1984]:

Quoting from [ir1uno]:

Hello Balquerock,

Using Paypal is good. However, we don't know if the seller is happy about this too. Especially seller from asian countries, I don't think paypal payment method is favorable to them since they can not get the cash instantly.

In international trading. LC is indeed the most safest way of paying. However, if your transaction is usd5,000 or less, probably LC is too constly and complicated.

Finding reliable and trustable supplier/seller is probably the biggest investment a buyer has to make. The best way to do it is to visit the country of the producer and see for yourself. Yes it will be costly for you to make the trip, but once you clear this, you will have yourself a long term guarantee of good product suppliy.

Another way is to use reliable and trustable third party service to source for you and also do site inspection. This will also cost you but not as much as if you make the inspection by yourself.

Happy safe trading

Thanks ir1uno,

We do need people like you to teach and share their trading experience and other security knowledge. As a supplier in China, I would advise buyers like Angel Fallsand blaqueroc, that to take a business trip after online communication with the potential suppliers. Although this may be really tired and costly for you, it is a good way to keep your money safe.

Good luck & Happy New Year!
Regards,


Ken Huang

yeah thats true, for me as buyer too... i like to play safe. before making any businesses with a supplier, most of it i will go down to the field, have alook onto thier factory. after satisfying seeing and proving that was real. i will make the deal with the supplier. The other benefit on doing this is, 1. we can interact and make new businesses partner and trust from both parties. and secondly, this is the only chances for me visiting other country and refresh my view around the world.


"TO EARN PROFIT, YOU MUST DARE TO TAKE THE RISK" Qoute from Donald Trump


warmest greeting

Happy advanced Chinese New Year 2009


Azri Jumat

Almost all customers from nigeria are scamers.So don't believe them.

 

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