Watch out for scam traps

After the case of a series of businesses in the cashew industry being deceived in the Italian market, the Ministry of Industry and Trade as well as the Vietnam Trade Office in the markets have continuously issued warnings about the phenomenon of scams lurking in many forms. unpredictable.

However, with a subjective and careless mentality, many businesses continue to fall into the whirlpool of international scams.

Therefore, in addition to the timely intervention to support businesses, the authorities also give many recommendations to be careful before all transactions to avoid unfortunate losses.

Thousands of tricks

Last March, the Vietnam Trade Office in Morocco urgently warned that businesses absolutely avoid dealing with fraudulent importers whose direct name is Khalid, the name of KN Universe Plastic Company.

This is the new name of Fisherlab Sarl Company, whose history of fraud was warned many years ago. A Vietnamese export enterprise said that the person on the notice that a family member has COVID will pay later to buy time, and collude with related subjects to clear the shipment but do not pay.

Most recently, a seafood export enterprise in Ho Chi Minh City sent a letter of “request for help” to the Vietnamese diplomatic missions about the partner in Sri Lanka fraudulently appropriating 2 consignments with a value of assets up to nearly 113,000 USD.

The partner in Sri Lanka is Northern Star Trading Colombo PVT. According to the original contract, delivery terms are CIF Colombo (delivery at Colombo port), payment terms are D/P 100%; collect via bank, pay immediately upon presentation of documents.

According to this business, after delivering the goods and completing the documents of the first shipment, the buyer took the reason that the fee for payment of D/P via the bank was high, so he asked to change to the method of payment by wire transfer. (T/T).

The partner used the reason that the shipment must be inspected by Colombo customs and applied for an import permit, requiring the Vietnamese enterprise to send 1/3 of the original bill of lading in advance to carry out the above procedures and commit after obtaining the license. Authorization will pay the full amount of goods so that the Vietnamese side sends all the remaining original documents.

However, after the Vietnamese enterprise sent 1/3 of the original bill of lading for both shipments, the partner received the goods and disappeared.

Recently, trade experts have also warned about the phenomenon of fraud in business transactions in Nigeria in particular and in West Africa in general, which often occurs in a variety of ways, such as fraud in bidding or exporting. imports of goods.

Trade experts said: Fraudsters often sign export contracts for Vietnamese enterprises; execute transactions from 1-2 contracts on time, good product quality to create trust.

However, from the third contract, the subject asked the Vietnamese enterprise to transfer a deposit of 30-50% of the contract value, appropriate this amount and not deliver the goods.

In addition, businesses face difficulties in payment when most West African countries use a form of payment with certain risks such as T/T, D/A, D/P. Therefore, careful verification of partners is necessary to avoid risks when signing export-import contracts. Enterprises should also apply the form of payment of irrevocable letter of credit, payment at sight (L/C).

Faced with this fact, the Vietnam Trade Office in Nigeria recommends that in cases of payment in the form of a deposit, businesses should ask partners to deposit 30-50% of the value for new and first-time orders. In particular, businesses should not transfer money in any form when requested by partners such as brokerage fees, attorney fees…

Particularly for import activities to Vietnam, enterprises need to conduct inspection of goods in the host country before putting the goods on board or hire reputable inspection companies to ensure quality. Moreover, in the first stage, it is advisable to go directly to meet the supplier, supervise the purchasing and loading the goods on the ship.

Sharing more about this market, Ms. Tran Thi Thu Thuy, Deputy Director of the Export Support Center (Trade Promotion Department) said that besides Nigeria’s market of 200 million consumers, the country’s export goods Vietnam can also access the markets of the countries of the West African Economic Community of which Nigeria is a member when the regulations and standards for imported goods are quite similar.

However, to be safe in finding customers in Nigeria in particular and in Africa in general, Vietnamese businesses are recommended to contact the Trade Office – the Vietnamese Embassy in this regional market.

On the other hand, businesses need to actively participate in international exhibitions, business forums, market research and trade promotion delegations organized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and associations or through partners who know the world. introduce.

According to the statistics of the Vietnamese authorities, international fraud used to happen in the common African region such as Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, Cameron… but in recent years, the situation of fraud. occurred more commonly in potential markets such as the Netherlands, Norway, USA, Canada, UAE…

In particular, in the context that markets are being heavily affected by the COVID-19 epidemic, fraud in international commercial transactions tends to increase.

Consequences of permissiveness

Explaining the reason why many exporters have been scammed abroad in recent times, a representative of a large seafood export business in Ho Chi Minh City said that the COVID-19 epidemic has caused heavy losses. For the global economy, businesses in Vietnam and many other countries and territories face difficulties, even exhaustion. This context contributes to promoting unfair trade and economic activities.

On the side of Vietnamese businesses, under pressure to recover and improve sales after the pandemic, many export businesses seek and cooperate with new customers when they do not know the information or are subjective, supporting wrong customers. procedures should unknowingly assist “bad” customers, leading to credit risks or fraudulent appropriation of goods.

In fact, scams from import partners have been warned a lot. If before 2020, “virtual” partners scamming Vietnamese businesses mainly come from Africa, in the past few years, it has happened more commonly in potential markets such as Europe, North America, etc. Middle East…

Experts say that it is the gullibility, permissiveness and subjectivity in payment methods that make Vietnamese businesses the last seller to suffer “money loss” when delivering goods but the buyer does not pay.

Therefore, through cases of fraud from “virtual” partners, the lesson to be learned for Vietnamese businesses at this time in export activities is that it is not possible to continue to be easy but needs to carefully verify the information. information about foreign partners, especially those who have just made transactions for the first time.

In addition, businesses need to have legal expertise in exporting contract agreements and choose a payment transaction method that is less risky even though it may cost more.

After the case of 100 containers of cashews exported to Italy, it was suggested that one of the reasons was due to the payment method. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, the contract signing, the form of payment by collection at sight (D/P) is an international method; The problem is to apply to which customers, how to do it.

Therefore, it is necessary to ask the partner to deposit 10-30% of the contract value. When the deposit is transferred, the new enterprise begins to produce and collect products.

It can be said that this is not the first time that foreign trade fraud has occurred, but has taken place in countries around the world. According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Thanh, the lesson learned, Vietnamese exporters need to be careful in the terms of the contract, especially the payment terms; need to verify business partners.

Therefore, if not eligible to hire a consultant, 2-3 businesses can gather and hire a consultant for the process of connection, negotiation, transaction and contract implementation.

Dr. Can Van Luc, Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of Directors of BIDV Bank, recommends: it is necessary to learn carefully to know the partners well in many different ways, including through external agencies. deliver. For new customers, execute small contracts before proceeding with large transactions.

In addition, businesses should give priority to using highly secure payment methods such as L/C, rather than using high-risk payment methods such as D/P.

In order to reduce risks in transactions, Mr. Tran Thanh Hai recommends that, as a first lesson, our businesses must pay great attention to customer verification, even in cases where there are already a few customers. Once the contract is signed and performed, the verification process must continue.

In particular, verification can be done through many different channels, including Vietnam’s Trade Offices in other countries as well as consulting services, depending on the markets.

On the other hand, businesses should also take the initiative in drafting contracts to master and understand the provisions, responsibilities and obligations in the contract to minimize risks in transactions with foreign customers. outside./.