近日，尼日尼亚频现预付费用欺诈案，国际商会附属国际海事局（IMB），希望对此引起本协会成员的注意。国际海事局已收到几起报告有关于由尼日利亚或加纳发出的虚假单据，涉及石油产品的销售。
国际海事局近期刊文，谈及他们在有成员涉案时的通常处理方式。大多数涉案单据的质量差，能够很快被当事人识别为虚假单据。这些单据据称列出在若干船舶上已装船货物的所有人，单据伪造人通常以较大折扣或高额预付费将这些虚假单据出售给不知情的买家。
然而，在国际海事局近期代表一德国买家调查的案件中，伪造单据的质量有了很大提高，其中一份单据表面确认尼日尼亚国家石油公司（NNPC）确实已向卖家供应单据中的产品。此外，该货物的详细信息似乎符合一批已经发生的真实装运货物。但调查人员通过仔细检查发现这笔交易属于预付费欺诈案件。
国际海事局指出，犯罪分子的主要目标是那些经验不足的商品交易者。这些商人对石油交易或该地区不熟悉，受低价诱惑，并且被表面真实的虚假单据欺骗而购买。
通常，卖方建议受害者自行检查货物是否已装船，但证明货物已装船和证明拥有货物的所有权完全是两码事。犯罪分子正是利用了受害者缺乏经验这一弱点。
有关由于使用伪造文件，受害船只被扣留的案件已有报导。虽然受害船只的无辜很快得到确认，但在此确认之前亦已浪费了宝贵时间和资源。
国际海事局呼吁对所有重大交易的各方实施严格的尽职审查，即使他们有良好的贸易记录也不例外。此外，国际海事局建议当事人自行验证文件上显示的所有运输信息，以便有效预防损失。
详细信息请参阅附件。
Advance fee fraud – West Africa
The Membership should be made aware of recent concern expressed by The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) regarding advance fee frauds in Nigeria. Several cases have been forwarded to the IMB surrounding false documentation reportedly emanating from Nigeria and Ghana pertaining to the sale of petroleum products.
The IMB recently published an article stating how they regularly handle cases where members are caught in the middle of a dispute. Most cases involve poor quality documents that are quickly proven as fake. The documents purportedly show the ownership of cargoes carried on board certain vessels and the scam centres around these spurious documents being sold on to unwitting buyers, often at a heavy discount or for a hefty advance fee.
However, a recent case investigated by the IMB, who acted on behalf of a German buyer, involved much better quality documentation including one document apparently confirming that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) had indeed supplied the seller with the goods. Furthermore, the details of the cargo appeared to match that of a genuine shipment which had taken place. More detailed checks, however, confirmed that the deal was nothing more than an advance-fee fraud.
The IMB noted that the criminals are preying on the lack of knowledge of inexperienced commodity traders. Traders unfamiliar in dealing with petroleum cargoes or in this area of the world and being lured by low rates and tricked by the apparent authenticity of the fraudulent documents.
Often, the sellers suggest to victims that they check themselves that the cargo has been loaded onboard a vessel however, proving a cargo is onboard a vessel is an entirely different matter than proving the ownership of that cargo. It is here where the criminals are capitalising on inexperience.
Cases have been reported where vulnerable vessels have been detained for having fraudulent documentation. The vessels innocence is often quickly proved but not before valuable time and resources have been called upon to deal with the situation.
The IMB urges stringent due diligence checks on all parties involved in any major transaction, even on parties with well established trading records. Furthermore, the Bureau advises that all details of the shipment appearing on the documents are verified independently to prevent losses.
See attached file : Bulletin 803.pdf
