Reference
http://www.gulfoiltrading.com/Fake%20companies.htm
The list of some FAKE companies in "Russia":
1. SibirTranzitNeft by Vasily Vlasov tel 791698691...
2. ZAO Sorcont Oils
3. SibirNeft
4. Icon Oil by Mr. Shateav tel 749550690...
5. OOO Integral tel 749597114...
6. OOO Rucas Oil&Gas by Mr. M. Petrovich
7. OAO AchinskNeft by Yury Kosyuk tel 790300630...
8. OAO Ruslaneft Co LTD tel 792673259...
9. NikitOil by Nikita Ivanovich
10. TatNeft tel 749551834...
11. Intercont Oil
12. NovostiNeft Oil
13. Interlot-Oil
14. kamneft
15. OAO NK RUSSNEFT
16. Russibneft
17. Transnafta
18. Utkaneft by Russlan Chacov
19. Omeganeftgas by Alexandrovitch Vladimir Dimitry & his Mandate Margarita Berrutti
20. ZAO Fennix
21. Alduke Holdings-Sibneftprom
22. Soyuz Corporation
23. Igion Oil or Icon oil & Gas
24. Rusneftprom
25. Golden Oil
26. Zorin Energy Resources
27. Sogaz or Zhogaz
28. Etc.
Newest Scam from Russia.
Russian Scammers are evolving.
Now that getting Transneft fees out of foreign buyers, they are designing more elaborate scams for bigger payoffs.
Some of you have been asking questions about Nortagas.
This article might provide some answers to you.
Always remember that conmen and scammers rely on people's greed to try their scams.
Weak brokers, traders and buyers believing in a deal of a lifetime are the best targets for these scammers.
These companies were offering 30M MT D2 SPOT FOB deals, 38M MT D2 SPOT FOB deals, 13MMT of M100 allocations, 78M barrels per month of Jet fuel as well as gasoline, LNG/LPG.
They must be bigger than GAZPROM, but no oil facilities can be found.
ZAO Transnafta is one of fake sellers in Russia.
They are joined with Nigerian guyes.
Do not consider Escrow/insurance 1-2%. It is trap.
Anyway if seller ask buyer's "BCL/Soft probe,upfront fee,etc and it is 100% fake, or they do not have offer in
their hands.
Serious seller do not ask them to buyer.
Will you/buyer send BCL to swindlers first ?
Do you know what's the meaning "BCL" ?
Information
How any seller can sell gasoil (for example) for 700 when inside Russia we have prices (for
domestic market on FCA refinery terms) 25.000 rubles per MT (1 USD = 23.5 roubles)... and by
Platts price above 1220 USD per MT.
HOW ANYBODY CAN OFFER THE PRICE, WHICH IS BETTER THAN REAL MARKET ON
40-45%% AND ON CIF ASWP?
Do you know freighting fees?
Did you ever see a vessel for light petroleum products of deadweight more than 80.000 MT?
Do you know how many companies have such tankers?
Do you know demurrage expenses in ports?
When you will understand these things, probably you`ll find that all this bullshit which we can see
in internet regarding petroleum products (volume, price) is unreal fake and only fake companies can
make business with such people which still believe in it.
MOST POPULAR RUSSIAN OIL SCAMS:
Transneft fee scam from fake Russian Oil Sellers
To all buyers of Russian Oil Products:
Do not pay any upfront Transneft fee to Russian Sellers under no circumstances.
There is a well organized Russian crime network made of many so-called Russian independent sellers or seller's mandates, all of them advertising on www.Alibaba.com and their leader is posing as the President of Transneft, the Russian State Pipeline monopoly, issuing fake Transneft documents
Including Invoice with Transneft bank accounts (which really belongs to the scammers), Affidavit and contracts.
He uses the following email addresses: simonbainshtock@mail.ru and bainshtocksm@mail.ru.
All deceptive email addresses from a Russian free mail server, using the name of a legitimate Russian official to fool foreigners, which think that they are dealing with the head of Transneft.
We learned that he also uses the alias: Sergey Dmitriev.
Buyers from many countries have been victimized by these scammers and they are still in business.
These people are not selling oil.
Their business is to scam foreign oil buyers for upfront Transneft fees.
DO NOT SEND THEM MONEY, YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE OIL AND WILL LOSE ALL MONEY THAT YOU SEND THEM.
We know that one company paid Transneft fees for over 8 contracts and has lost all that money
Their contracts usually include Cell phone as seller's phone, fake bank account, fake SWIFT code, fake email addresses, fake bank officer, who is usually an individual who is part of a scam.
All phone and email messages that the buyer sends to the seller's bank go to people working for the scam, not to the bank.
Some of these companies are fictitious and do not even legally exist.
When they provide Transneft invoice and other documents, if you ask for verification, they will put you in contact with fake Transneft officials including someone, who claimed that he is the President of Transneft and a close friend of President Putin.
All of These people are also part of the scam and no really, who they claim to be.
They used to provide an invoice for payment to be wired to Alfa Bank or a Russian Standard Bank in behalf of Transneft pipeline, or Transneft Trustees;
Not True!!!!
They have people inside Alfa Bank, Russian Standard Bank and other Russian banks to divert the money to them.
Nowadays, they use Russian Standard Bank and other banks with the money going to an individual, who supposes to be a Transneft Trustee, but in fact is part of the gang.
Their fee went from $28,000.00 last year to $30,000.00 per 500k contract.
They will make you believe, that you are getting a good deal, because you suppose to pay both, the internal and external fees upfront.
But, because of their special relationship with the President of Transneft, they will arrange an exemption for you, to only pay the Internal fee.
All scam talk.
The following companies are part of the scam:
Alduke Holdings-Sibneftprom, Soyuz Corporation, Igion Oil, Icon oil & Gas, Rusneftprom, Golden Oil, Zorin Energy Resources, Sogaz or Zhogaz.
If you pay them once, they will ask you to submit more contracts, before they can perform on your first contract, because they must meet internal Transneft quota, before they can deliver any PB or POP to you.
If you insist, they will put you in touch with the fake President of Transneft, who claims to be Mr. Boishtoc himself, to tell you that the Russian seller is in good standing with Transneft, but you must deliver more contracts to them, so that they can meet their Transneft quota.
Avoid individuals like Nikolai Gubin from Alduke Holdings, Andrei Shaika from Soyuz Corp and Rusneftprom.
In the case of Alduke, after you pay, they will then tell you, that they have again tax problems with the government and cannot perform until this problem is resolved and they have the tax problem confirmed by the fake Transneft President, who is really the ring master.
This Master Scammer will not only confirm that Alduke, or any of scammers is a good seller, but will ask you to advance Million dollars in cash (to be wired to a bank that they will provide) to him, so that he can get Russian officials to help Alduke, so that you can get your oil.
Right but not in this lifetime !!!!
Just tell this guy to send you a certified copy of his passport as Mr. Boishtoc, the head of Transneft, so that you can verify it with the Russian Embassy, before you send him the Million , which he is asking for.
He will tell you, that he is very offended by that request and will hang up the phone quickly.
These scammers will object to you visiting Moscow, to personally make payment to Transneft Bank to move to LC in exchange for PB/POP documents there.
No matter what you do, do not pay them upfront fees and do not accept any procedure, where you have to pay large upfront sums to get the deal started.
Once you pay , there is no way to get your money back and recover the lost time.
The fake Mr. Boishtoc from Transneft will tell you, that Transneft has met their obligations and that you are now liable for the additional external fee of $150,000.00 per contract and that you should address your concerns with the Russian seller.
Things to do to avoid these scams:
1.- Always contact your country's embassy in Moscow for help on screening Russian sellers.
2.- Ask your embassy to recommend a local lawyer to screen and verify any document that you receive from Moscow.
3.- Get your lawyer to invite you to Moscow to verify all documents issued by your seller and to visit your seller.
4.- Get the seller to move first by issuing PB from reputable Russian Bank with a major Foreign corresponding bank and Vessel Charter Party Agreement verifiable through your lawyer in Moscow.
There is no scam without a Bank.
Check the seller's bank listed on the contract.
Bank uses their own mail server.
If given bank email address shows a different mail server then be concerned.
Call the bank!
Bank officers should use a land line for their phone number, not cell phone!
Serious and successful sellers should not have any need to collect Transneft fees upfront from you, once you show them preliminary proof of fund via BCL or soft probe.
Only scammers want to see your money first, because their business is to collect these fees, not to sell oil!
Furthermore, once you send them one payment, they tell you that they have a quota and that you need to send them more deals, before they can accept your Pre-advice LC or issue PB.
Even, if you ask them to sign a promissory note to return the money in case of non-performance, they will do it because you have no way of collecting that money back from them.
Do not accept any document from these people, unless you have a way of verifying it independently.
They are master forgers for all sort of refinery and government documents.
They use a lot of Seller's mandate all of over the world to bring them business!!
The Russian mandates are part of the scam and foreign mandates are usually innocent victims, who think that they are representing a legitimate Russian seller.
Please don't be afraid to share your scam stories !!!
Scammers use the same scheme over and over because their victims do not speak out!
Your story will help weeding out scammers from the business.
It is not just about the money, it is about detecting these scams soon enough to avoid wasting time.
Since this article was initially posted here, there have been some new company listings on www.Alibaba.com and other websites (Lukhoilsandgas, Golden Oil, Zhogas, Sogaz, ...) presenting themselves as mandates for Russian companies like RUSNEFTPROM.
Our personal recommendation is not to do business with any mandate or company that lists relationship with Alduke Holdings-Sibneftprom, RUSNEFTPROM or any of the companies listed above in this article.
The real test is for you to get a copy of their procedure.
They all require upfront fee from the buyer for Transneft fee, before they issue PB, POP, or show any oil or SGS report or proof of previous deals where that have actually ship any oil to anybody.
How to deal successfully and safely in Russia?
Remember, if anybody demands upfront money from you - Deal is Fake! - Run Away!
If anybody tells you, that price is so good, because he has personal relationship with General Director or President, V-president (school friend) etc. etc. - Deal is Fake! - Run Away!
IF anybody demands any "registration fee" according to "government law" or transportation fee for example for TRANSNEFT or any money before transaction - Deal is Fake! - Run Away!
Any respectable seller who has closed deals before should not have any problem paying $30,000 for the so-called transneft fee.
The big oil sellers (GAZPROM, ROSNEFT,...) do not even mention these so called fees.
All banks used their own Mail servers.
It's not hard to identify simple scammers.
Almost always you can say that after the following easiest procedures:
Check their website.
It should have both: Russian and English version.
Check their website at www.who.is/ paying attention to it�s type, IP location, date of creation and website status.
If their telephone or fax number starts with +7 9�, take into consideration that it�s a mobile phone number.
If possible, check their address at google earth or any other internet map�s website.
There also are scammers, using genuine Russian oil suppliers' names.
Then you should address to your country's embassy in Russia or to Russian embassy (or Russian Trade representation = Trade Commission) in your country.
Because in different documents, they send to you there are many spelling mistakes in the stamps and signatures and any Russian will tell you that.
There are only 3 types of fraud (all concerning their asking you for upfront payment prior to providing any proofs that they are able to supply):
1. asking for transneft fee
2. asking for legislation fee (Ministry of Energetics, High Court, etc.)
3. selling you a mandate
Well, the cheapest cheese is only in the mousetrap.
Just don't think that you are smarter than anyone and can buy much cheaper than average oil in enormous quantity from an unknown company.
So when these scammers list a bank officer with an email address showing a different mail server - Deal is Fake! - Run Away!
If your potential deal is kind of "Too good to be true" - Deal is Fake!
