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The China CEO Gift-Giving Scam

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Municipality of Tianjin
Image of Tianjin via Wikipedia

I was recently contacted by Eric Vermaas, the CEO of PT Team Wood (www.teamwood.org), a Dutch-Indonesian timber and furniture partnership based in Jakarta, to run a background check on an Import Export company based in Tianjin, China, and which had just placed an order for $915,000 USD in speciality wood furnishings.

Fortunately, for Eric I just happened to be in Tianjin at the time, as I was visiting family for the Mid-Autumn Festival, one of the two main traditional festivals along with Chinese New Year, and therefore checking them out was a fairly simple process for me.

The Chinese company details are as follows:

Tianjin Tanbo Import & Export Trade Co., Ltd.,

Address:

43 Nanjing Road, Heping District,

300350, Tianjin, China

Web: www.sjzdingsheng.com.cn

Tel: + 86 228 143 92 09

Fax: + 86 400 67 61 100 ext 1010

Email: heiyexingguang8@126.com, tanbo_2003@yeah.net

Trade Manager: Chen Jinliang

I quickly discovered that telephone number is not a land line, and is actually a mobile number known as a xiao ling tong, and which looks like a land-line number, can’t be easily traced, and is very cheap to buy.

The fax number isn’t in Tianjin and seems to be out of town, and is perhaps a fax service somewhere, hence the extension number; quite probably a big room in a cheap building with a number of fax machines in it – linked to a PBX if the extension number is anything to go by.

I visited the address provided on the website and discovered that it doesn’t actually exist. Basically the numbers on that street jump from number 35 to number 57 Nanjing Road, with nothing but an abandoned construction site between these two numbers, and therefore no sign of number 43.

Of course, all of this seemed somewhat suspicious at best, particularly more so since I further determined that they allegedly scammed a businessperson from Europe out of 8,000 Euros on or about the 22nd or 23rd of September 2009 (you can find the details here), and have also placed large orders with several other companies, in one case up to $600,000 USD in value, and all since the 31st August 2009.

I further discovered that Tianjin Tanbo Import & Export Trade Co., Ltd., also operate under the name of Hebei Dingsheng Import & Export Company, and have the same non-existent address.

In consequence to all of the above I strongly advised PT Team Wood to have nothing whatsoever to do with this “company“.

Tianjin Tanbo also failed to respond to my repeated phone calls or emails. Particularly when once they realised they had Chinese speakers, currently resident in China, on their tails. The only call we had, and which I instigated, was brief, and led to their prevarication and a lot of stuttering, particularly when I asked for their address, and they said it was the same as the website – to which I responded that I’d been to visit the location, and it didn’t exist. Whereupon they responded that they’d just recently moved. How convenient and how odd they’d forgotten to mention this when first asked, or even to update their website.

Finally, I asked them to have a senior executive call me back, and have had no response in the three days since that call – and neither do I expect one.

The CEO Gift Scam Works in the Following Manner:

1. The scammer places a large order with you.

2. They then invite you to China to finalise the contract.

3. When you arrive, they will tell you that in traditional Chinese business culture you should buy the CEO a gift commensurate with his position. This in the case of the last person I found scammed by them was for gold bars worth 8,000 Euros.

4. After you have signed the contract and returned home, they then contact you again and tell you the contracts must be translated and stamped and sealed by a notary, and that the fee for this is 1,350 Euros or something of the type.

5. If you pay that then the next step would be for them to cease contact with you, as they are in no way interested in a purchase.

Gift-Giving In China

Gift-giving in China is common in business, but a bottle of wine or a treat from your own country is usually more than acceptable, and I know of no CEO who would expect me to buy them anything expensive. Moreover, since you are a foreigner you’re usually expected to be ignorant of gift-giving in China, and so are exempt from this. Most gifts between Chinese businessmen are cigarettes, Chinese white spirits (baijiu – a strong clear alcohol), or a good tea; certainly never in the form of gold bars, unless you have plans on bribing your way into a contract.

In conclusion, and as a rule of thumb, you should never feel obliged to buy anybody any kind of gift in China during the pursuance of your business interactions. However, out of politeness, a small gift of not-too-great an expense from your own country or culture will be gratefully received and appreciated.

Safe Trading!

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Originally posted 2009-10-07 22:50:26. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Popularity: 60%

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Posted in Hall Of Shame, Scams And Scammers | 2 Comments »

A German Company Discovers The True Meaning Of “Ripped-Off”

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

A Shockingly Interesting And Extremely Cautionary Tale From China.

Jamil Anderlini, in the Financial Times, published on July 27 2009, presented an article entitled “A cautionary tale from China“.

Well, as you know I live and breathe in China, and so felt more than a little compelled to read the article.

What I first noticed, after having read it, was how quiet the Chinese media had kept it – no surprises there I guess.

My next thought was, how dumb the victim, one Mr. Klaus Hilligardt, had been by entrusting his personal life, money, and home, and more particularly his business into the hands of his chosen Chinese managers; not a particularly wise move, as you will discover as the story unfolds.

The victim had his whole company stolen from under his very nose. I mean the guy didn’t even have absence from China as an excuse, as he was resident here for virtually all of the time preceding the eventual disappearance of his company.

Victims aren’t made – they’re born!

And this is a point I keep trying to make to those of you who read me here, and to those of you who email me in the hope that I can get your money back, and which you just kind-of gave away to someone on the other side of the planet. OOPS!

Basically, the Chinese management team of this company, which runs all the major advertising hoardings in China, predominantly on the underground, and national rail lines, set up there own ghost company, which included a logo not unlike the actual company they worked for; the senior Chinese manager, then sold the rights to the new company to take all their clients, and establish themselves as the new market leaders, using money from the victim’s own company to do so, whilst still being paid a salary from the victim’s company – I MEAN, SHAME JUST HAS NOWHERE TO HIDE IT’S FACE IN SHAME!

Image Copyright Financial Times Newsaper Group

Image Copyright Financial Times Newsaper Group

This is assault, battery, rape, and then being peed and shat on for extra measure, before being poked in the eye with a pointy stick, just when you thought it was all over.

In the end, the German managers from the parent company flew over to China, and ran a raid with the police, on the offices, into which the Chinese management had barricaded themselves, before arresting them and hauling them of for intense questioning.

Now, why am I telling you about this? Just because it happened in China? No! I’m telling you because the victim had several years of experience in Asian countries, but failed to learn the language, or the culture, and allowed himself to be walked up the garden path and given a damned good seeing to under the shady apple tree behind the garden shed.

My point?

Very simple. You need me.

China has been my home for the past 8 years, and has been a better home to me than my native England, in many ways, and I am very grateful to her for that.

But still, this is the Wild-East folks, and you greenhorns gotta watch out for Los Banditos Chino, because they can be pretty mean  Hombres to deal with.

Safe Trading!

Here’s a link to the original article for which you may have to sign up to a free membership to read: www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e4103832-7a87-11de-8c34-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1#

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Originally posted 2009-08-13 06:12:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Popularity: 97%

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Posted in General Information, Scams And Scammers | 3 Comments »

SafelySourcingChina.Com Is Launched

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same – When Is A Blog Not A Blog?

Well, I decided that although I like the look of the blog here at yourchinatradingpartner.com/blog, and that WordPress has a great deal to say for itself, as a very manageable blogging tool; I just felt it was a wee bit slow.

I mean, you come to the YourChinaTradingPartner.Com page, and you get a very nice fast load. However, when you drop down a directory into the blog, I found it to very often take a monumentally long time to load the page, and it was driving me nuts.

So, to solve the problem, and generate a lot of new work for myself, I built an HTML version of the blog, and slapped it on its’ own host at www.SafelySourcingChina.com.

Of course, this has presented me, the novice, with certain issues, such as how to make an RSS feed of my new HTML version of the blog.

However, after a little searching I managed to find a way of doing it which suits me down to the ground. Indeed, once I’d organised my RSS, I then went and tried feeding it to FeedBurner, and it went through far more smoothly than the horror story that was my feeds, here on the blog, just a week ago, when i had to hire someone to sort it out for me.

CLICK! and I was done. I couldn’t believe how easy it was.

I’ll continue to post here, but I’ll also post the material on the new blog too, for those who prefer a speedier, if less glossy, access portal to my stuff.

If anyone’s interested in how to set up an RSS feed for their blog, then I suggest you simply go where I went, and all will be made clear.

Here’s the link: rapidfeeds.com

By the way, I just tried putting the annimated feed link bar in here from FeedBurner, but WordPress just wouldn’t have it, and I’ve had to rewrite, and delete this article 4 times to try and dump the scramble of code left here.

I like the UTILITY of WordPress, but I prefer the ease and speed of HTML. For me, WordPress has presented me with a number of issues, a few of which are still unresolved.

That’s it for now, folks.

UPDATE

I managed to get an HTML blog sorted quite nicely, but found updating feeds to be a bit of a drag, and so finally decided to move the WordPress version of the blog here, as you can now see, and have probably noted.

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Originally posted 2009-08-13 03:03:06. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Posted in Being In Beijing, Company News | No Comments »

More Dirt On Esources.co.uk – Just How Grubby Is Their Laundry?

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Is Esources.co.uk Being Used As A Means Of Collecting Credit Card, And Personal Details Necessary For Identity Theft?

Here’s something new on the Esources scam trail. I happened to be reviewing the key words used by visitors coming to the blog this evening, and saw a particular string, which I followed, and which brought me to an excellent resource known as FraudWatchInternational.com, and under the section: Home > Fraud Education > Fake Jobs (Money Mules), I found a note on our old friend Stefano Carboni’s company, Esources.co.uk, entitled: Esources Limtited UK – Fake Job (Money Mule Scam).

What’s a “Money Mule”? I hear you asking.

Well, our splendid friends at WikiPedia provide us with a simple and concise explanation, or definition, of the term, as follows:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A money mule is a person who transfers money and reships high value goods that have been fraudulently obtained in one country, usually via the internet, to another country, usually where the perpetrator of the fraud lives. The term money mule is formed by analogy with drug mules.

The need for money mules arises because while a criminal in a developing country can obtain the credit card numbers, bank account numbers, passwords and other financial details of a victim living in the first world via the internet through techniques such as malware and phishing, turning those details into money usable in the criminal’s own country can be difficult. Many businesses will refuse to transfer money or ship goods to certain countries where there is a high likelihood that the transaction is fraudulent. The criminal therefore recruits a money mule in the victim’s country who will receive money transfers and merchandise and resend them to the criminal in return for a commission.

I then came across the following site: http://www.banksafeonline.org.uk/moneymule_explained.html, where they present a lovely interactive graphic of how the scam works, and a very plain English overview of the scam in action, and include such warnings as:

“Remember that even if you have nothing to do with the actual extraction of funds from another person’s account, by allowing your account to be used to receive and transfer such funds, you will be acting illegally.”

Therefore, one might actually conclude that Mr. Carboni isn’t satisfied with swindling people out of their payments through his scam-site, esources.co.uk, but is actively attempting to engage people into placing themselves in a criminally damaging position, in the pursuance of satisfying his need to feed his greed, and his swindling addiction. I mentioned in an earlier article that similar letters from his company were lodged on file at www.data-wales.co.uk under the Representative Fake Cheque Scam.

www.banksafeonline.org.uk go on to explain the steps involved:

  1. Fraudsters contact prospective victims with “job vacancy” adverts via spam emails, letters, newspaper job adverts, Internet chat rooms or job search web sites. Jobs are usually advertised as a “financial manager” and suggest that no special knowledge is required.
  2. The fraudsters convince the victim to come and work for their fake “company”. Some fraudsters even ask mules to sign official-looking contracts of employment.
  3. Once recruited, money mules will receive funds into their accounts. These funds will have been stolen by the fraudsters from another account that has been compromised.
  4. Mules are then asked to take these funds out of their account and to forward them overseas (minus a commission payment) typically using a wire transfer service. Acting as a mule is an illegal activity. When caught, money mules often have their bank accounts suspended, containing *all* of their money.

Of course, having your bank account, and the assets therein frozen, will be the least of your worries; one would assume you’d be more worried about the possible prison time you may have to serve.

Certainly in Australia, the Australian Federal Police, as cited on the Australian Bankers Association website, state clearly that the penalty for being a Money Mule is up to a maximum of 20 years in prison; whilst in the US, according to the US Department of Justice, you could be facing a possible 30 years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000,000, and up to five years of supervised release.

At the present moment, I am unable to furnish a penalty for the UK, but can state that it obviously is illegal, and that you will have your account, and assets frozen, you will be liable to repay the monies you earned, and perhaps more, to the actual victims, you will serve some time in prison, and you will carry both a criminal record, and shredded credit rating for the rest of your life.

So, this is no laughing matter, and Mr. Carboni seems to be entangled in this, along with his “company” Esources.co.uk, and quite possibly his alternative site Wholesaledeals.co.uk, by virtue of being under the ownership of the same individual.

Here is the extract from FraudWatchInternational, and the link to the page direct, and I’ll leave you to make your own opinions, and to draw further conclusions, as to the legality of the man and the “companies” he represents. Please, also take note that in the email, right at the beginning, the author states that Esources is a Ltd. company, but in actuality it is not registered as such in the UK.

“The following is an example email for this fake job, otherwise known as a money mule scam. Please forward all fake job emails to scams@fraudwatchinternational.com

Dear Sir/Ma.

Esources Limtited UK (http://www.esources.co.uk) is in search of a book-keeper/company representative in the U.S.A/CANADA. This project has been developed in a way not to affect your present job nor bring you any form of stress but in order to help take care of those extra costs while you work for us. Esources is a small company thats deals in whole sales of T-Shirts, Cardigans,Ladies Tops,Kids wear & Silver Jewellery . We offer exceptional customer service and quality at discounted prices!. Everything in our catalogue is priced in UK/US funds. You can check to see from our web-site.

Recently It came to my knowledge that there are a lot of lapses in
handling funds coming from our clients in the USA which come in forms of Cashiers checks,Company checks and Money Orders which are not readily cashable outside the United States. So we need someone in the U.S.A to work as our representative and assist us in processing the payments from our various clients which come in on a weekly,monthly and annual basis.This is why we decided to employ a representative over in theU.S.A to help us receive our payments at your contact address you shall be providing us,in order to process our payment from our clients.

All you need to do is receive these payments from our clients in the U.S.A get it cashed at your banking institution. You are entittled to(10% of each payment) that you process. After payment must have been cashed and deducted your working fee. You will send the remaining fund to us. Our payments will be issued out in your name as we will inform our clients to do. Therefore the following details would be needed: I would require you to send me an email with the following details:

1)Your Full Name:
2)Contact Address,City,State & Zipcode:
3)Home & Cell Phone number:
4)Age:
5)Occupation:
6)Sex(Male/Female):

Reply to: jeannettehintz@aol.com

We would forward these informations to one of our clients and they will start making payments to you as the company’s representative in the states . Once we have all your details in our records.We would notify you as soon we confirm that one of ourcleints is mailing payment across to you.

I await your urgent response.
Warmest Regards.
Jeannette Hintz.
Head Of Human Resources.
eSources.co.uk”.

Finally, look at that lovely line in the email, “We offer exceptional customer service and quality at discounted prices!”

What a load of rubbish! Obviously Mr. Carboni’s idea of “…exceptional customer service…“, doesn’t run as far as actually having an operating telephone, where customers can contact him, or his representatives; wherever he is, and wherever his “company” is, as all we have are mailing addresses, and a website! There is no physical presence, and no means of direct contact, other than email.

A parting thought: Might you be in danger of identity theft, if you’re paying for membership to either of Mr. Carboni’s websites. After all, you’re giving him a huge amount of personal information, not to mention your  credit card details. Just think about it for a moment.

Safe Trading!

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Originally posted 2009-08-13 01:40:20. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Popularity: 58%

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Posted in Hall Of Shame, Scams And Scammers | 2 Comments »

A Comprehensive Source of China Links

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Possibly The Most Comprehensive Listing Of China Governmental And Non-Governmental Info-Sources.

When embarking on trading with China, both you and your company need as much top-level information as possible, and it should be equally wide in scope and readily available at the click of a mouse at any time, day or night.

And that’s where a small family-run product sourcing and due diligence company in Beijing, are seemingly outstripping their larger competitors, by presenting quite possibly one of the most comprehensive sources of information and links to Chinese governmental and non-governmental information sites of interest and information, with particular emphasis on due diligence and trading safely with China; all readily available in one place, and at the click of the mouse, for foreign businesses, traders, and entrepreneurs on the internet.

YCTP China Trading Links

YCTP China Trading Links

This small company is saving a lot of people a lot of hard footslogging, or better said – key tapping – by opening to the public their own carefully garnered resources to the public domain.

Indeed, they even outstrip companies such as Alibaba with the comprehensive and ‘all-in-one-place’ format of their links – literally at your fingertips.

Indeed, there are many pages offering information on the internet regarding product sourcing, due diligence, background checking, and lodging formal complaints with governmental or voluntary agencies. However, few sites offer such a broad and comprehensive range of informational links to relevant and pertinent Chinese authorities and government sanctioned trade and commerce sites, where you can find connections to genuine Chinese businesses who have registered themselves with governmental authorities. This in and of itself doesn’t necessarily make these businesses one-hundred percent genuine or risk-free. However, it certainly does minimise the risk of being scammed.

Sectional headings on the links page at www.yourchinatradingpartner.com include – China Business Resources: the links in this section cover a variety of journals and blogs appertaining to trading with China and are replete with useful information, inside tips, news, data, and current trends.

In the China Government Business resources section there are a string of excellent links to The Ministry of Commerce to the Peoples Republic of China (national) and its’ associated forums and complaints sections. In the Invest in China – Government Website section you can confirm the validity, or determine whether a company is legally registered in China. However, it currently only deals with those companies who have joined voluntarily and/or are foreign/Sino joint ventures.

In The Local Administration for Industry and Commerce Section you can check local branches of The Ministry of Commerce to the Peoples Republic of China to determine the validity of a business and whether or not it is a legally registered entity.

Other sections include links to the Bureau of Fair Trade for Imports and Exports, Department of Foreign Investment Administration, and the World Importers Net (Ministry of Commerce PRC), which is a trade promotion website under MOFCOM Public Information Service (MPIS), aiming at promoting international trade by providing both Chinese and overseas companies with trade information. It is an important part of the China national public information service system for international trade and economic cooperation, and is funded by the Chinese government; all services provided are free of charge.

Further very useful sites linked to by YCTP are the Department of Foreign Trade, China Customs & Excise, and The Mediation Centre of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade; where if something goes wrong with your transaction, and you have already tried to contact your Chinese business partner to resolve the issue without success, then you can refer your case to arbitration.

Another interesting and useful link is to the Trademark Office – State Administration for Industry and Commerce (CTMO); which department performs the registration and administration of trademarks nationwide.

CIETAC is now one of the busiest arbitration centres in the world.

CIETAC is now one of the busiest arbitration centres in the world.

Another immensely useful site is The China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) which is the most important and permanent arbitration institution in China. Formerly known as the Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission, the CIETAC was set up in April 1956 under the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) to meet the needs of the continuing development of China’s economic and trade relations with foreign countries after the adoption of the “reform and opening-up” policy, the Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission was renamed as the Foreign Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission in 1980, and then finally settled down as the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission in 1988. Since 2000, the CIETAC is also known as the Arbitration Court of the China Chamber of International Commerce (CCOIC).

The CIETAC independently and impartially resolves economic and trade disputes by means of arbitration and conciliation (mediation).

The CIETAC’s headquarters is located in Beijing with two sub-commissions in Shanghai and Shenzhen, respectively known as the CIETAC Shanghai Sub-Commission and the CIETAC South China Sub-Commission. In order to meet the needs of the development of the arbitration practices, the CIETAC also successively established 19 liaison offices in different regions and specific business sectors to provide parties with handy arbitration advice.

After nearly 50 years of continuous endeavour, the CIETAC is now one of the busiest arbitration centres in the world. With its arbitration practices and academic activities, the CIETAC has also made great contributions to the legislation of the Chinese arbitration law and the development of the arbitration practice in China. Not only does CIETAC maintain positive relations and cooperation with all the major arbitration institutions throughout the world, it also upholds a respectable reputation at home and abroad for its independence, impartiality and efficiency.

YCTP also include an introduction to CHINA – THE LAW; which although not exhaustive does direct readers to General Principals of the Civil Law of the People’s Republic of China, Model Arbitration Clause for Contracts with Chinese Companies, and The Ministry of Public Security of the P. R. China Information Network & Security, which deals more specifically with cyber-fraud, or cyber-crime.

Additional links included are those for government run or sanctioned trade links and resources, such as: China Commodity Net (CCN), which is funded by the Chinese government. China Commodity Net (CCN) is one of MOFCOM’s Public Information Service (MPIS) projects. As an important part of China national public information service system for international trade and economic co-operation, CCN aims to enhance cooperation and trade between the Chinese and overseas enterprises.

Other trade links include BizMatching – A government run and approved (Ministry of Commerce) trade portal, and China Market; this is a business portal recommended by the Chinese government.

In all, Your China Trading Partner provide a fascinating, deeply informative, and educational collection of links, which will prove to be an extremely valuable resource for any company, large or small, or any individual wishing to trade securely and successfully with China.

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Did You Do it To Yourself? And Are You Still Doing It?

Monday, March 1st, 2010

Scammed or Self-Inflicted Wound?

It’s my personal opinion that many people who get themselves scammed in China, or elsewhere for that matter, do so almost willingly.

When I say “willingly“, I don’t actually mean that they say, “Hey! Mr. Scammer, please take my money from me!“ Although, when one looks at it from a certain direction, it may appear to be almost a silent agreement to such.

The Addictive Brain!
The Addictive Brain!

But, what I really mean, is that it’s reminiscent of the behaviour of a drug addict; because one knows one shouldn’t, but one nevertheless goes and does it anyway.

People usually KNOW a few things before a scammer closes on them.

1. They know that the deal is too good to be true.

Which quite frankly, in and of itself, should be ringing every alarm bell in their nervous systems.

2. They know that they are ignoring the warnings that their whole life’s experiences are sending them.

Yes, they just feel the truth of it in the seat of their pants – that something isn’t quite right. But, like the risk takers we humans are, ike the eternal optimists that we are – we persist with it and even ignore our own selves.

3. They know they should not send that money.

By this point, these people are really like junkies trying to withdraw from drugs. “I know I shouldn’t, but I just can’t help myself. I just need to do it. Just once more. I’m sure I’ll get lucky this time!“

Don't Play Russian Roulette With Your Money!
Don’t Play Russian Roulette With Your Money!

We use most of our senses, to avoid being set on fire, to smell the foods we eat, and perhaps the dog poop behind the sofa; we use our ears and eyes to stop us being run over by a car or truck, as we cross the road.

But, then we go and send $ 5,000 to some girl called “Minky” on the other side of the planet!

I mean – HEY! That isn’t even a real name,; and I don’t mean a fake or false identity. I mean not real as in the same way that I don’t have “kizu-maliki-shopytoof” in my kitchen; primarily because no such thing exists, not unless by sheer fluke I’ve named a real kitchen utensil in some obscure language.

Surely the fact they can’t even get a regular name together must tell you something about the SERIOUSNESS of the people you’re dealing with.

I’m reminded of those people who call those telephone sex lines (whatever they are), and some grotesque woman is sitting there pushing Twinkies, or another brand of sweet and sticky thing, down her throat like a factory production line, weighing in at 437 lbs (at 5 feet 3), and has to walk with the aid of sticks due to her medically gross obesity, is telling you her name is “Yvette“, and that she’s tall, slim, has diplomas in dance and theatre, is wearing a black negligee, likes you much more than anybody else who calls, because you’re almost like a real friend, and that we really should meet one day, but now she’s feeling really wet for you, and would you like to….

Ahem! Well, I’m sure you get the picture.

These “victims” have a sense that it’s going to happen, but still they press on, gritting their teeth in the hopes of a win.

Now, that’s what I call optimism!

Yes, these people know it’s going to happen. If not actually GOING TO, then certainly VERY LIKELY TO.

That’s what makes the scam almost a self-inflicted wound!

We're All Gamblers In One Way Or Another!
We’re All Gamblers In One Way Or Another!

Honestly, the inside of these peoples’ heads must look and sound exactly the same as that of a gambler with his last dollar – there he is standing in front of a fruit machine, and trying to decide whether to buy some food to eat, or slip it into the slot.

Of course, the decision was already made before he’d even thought of the question. Because our human sense of risk, or addiction, tends to walk about three paces in front of all other thought processes we’re experiencing.

Our sense of risk rides along like a surf board on the wave of every other thought we have. And it is because of this that our addiction will always finish ahead of everything else we think, do, taste, or feel.

It lives on the top of that wave, and everything else rests in its’ shadow.

We tell alcoholics that the first thing they need to do is understand that they HAVE A PROBLEM, before they can address it.

The same is true here.

In the same way as those guys calling on those sex lines, often the people who lose out here and elsewhere, are simply deluding themselves. They actually make the job of being a scammer easier.

Just remember this. A scam can only occur when one party wants something for nothing; all the other party is doing is giving you nothing for something.

Try to cut corners and you’ll cut your own throat.

There is no secret way; no special way; no something to which you aren’t privy.

There is simply a right way and wrong way. The first will bring you benefits, and the second will bring you misery.

You’ll simply lose the dollars, whilst trying to save the cents.

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What Can Happen If You Lose On A Deal In China?

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

What Can You Expect To Pay For CIETAC To Arbitrate For You, Should You Lose On A Deal In China?.

So, you lost out, and were skinned and scammed by a company in China, and now you want to go to arbitration to get back what you’ve lost, as well as getting some justice from the “evil doers“, as Mr. Bush might say. So, what’s it going to cost you?

Well, the following is the CIETAC fee schedule for their arbitration services, which I’ve converted, as near as possible, to the corresponding USD values.

Now, remember, when you choose to go into arbitration you agree to abide by the arbitral outcome. That is to say, that should the judgement go against you then all of the following monies tabulated below, will be lost to you on-top of your actual current losses. And don’t go confusing Western Jurisprudence with that of China; it may very well go against you. Remember, this is another risk.

As clearly stated beyond the main table, there may be further “…arbitration fee(s) according to this Arbitration Fee Schedule, the CIETAC or its Sub-commission may collect other extra, reasonable and actual expenses pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Arbitration Rules.” Meaning, that whatever you’re charged in the initial schedule may also include further fees levied to your account to the value of 1,500 USD per additional charge, per additional “…reasonable and actual expenses pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Arbitration Rules.”

Of course, even should you win, the defendant may still hold you up by delaying payment for a variety of reasons, and causing you to resort to CIETAC again, at further expense, which you will then have to get CIETAC to levy back against the defendant. Or, of course, they may just shut up shop and disappear. This kind of tactic wouldn’t necessarily be unusual.

Now, let’s just take a look at a bare-bones example, without the extra fees, and see what we’re talking about here.

We’ll take the lowest level in the schedule as an example, and this is just waving the stick a little, to get an idea of how things could go.

So, you lost $150,000 to a company somewhere in some province, in China.

You go to CIETAC, and before anything happens (and at this point I think it only fitting to mention that there is about a 9 month backlog with CIETAC) you are charged a fee of $5,250, plus the $1,500 registration fee, which is charged at all levels. Therefore, you’re current total is now $6,750, and you’ve just finished the registration process alone.

Then there will be charges for phone calls, letters, and transport costs for an examiner to visit the defendant or their place of business, hotel costs, living cost etc.

So, let’s just consider transport, living, interview, and visitation costs.

Let’s just call that another $3,000, and remain in the conservative area of things. That would bring you up to around the $9,750 mark. Then there’ll be the weeks and months of back and forth, hither and thither, as nothing in this vein happens either quickly or directly in China.

In the meantime, you may see your charges rise by another $3,000, before you even get close to an arbitral decision; and by which time you will have shelled out, on top of your $150,000 loss, another $12,750, and you’ll be sweating and hoping it all goes your way, or else you’ve lost your initial loss of $150,000 plus another $12,750.

So, are you shaking in your boots? Quivering with anger and frustration?

You should be!

Before I present you with the CIETAC arbitration fee schedule, allow me to tell you that there’s another way around this, and that is – PREVENTION.

Your China Trading Partner

Your China Trading Partner

Very simply, you can contact us at Your China Trading Partner, and we’ll make a factory visit, do your Due Diligence, and arrange for your goods to be checked before leaving port.

For us to go visit the factory, and to have your goods checked at port before shipping, will cost you approximately another $850 to $1,000 on top of your costs; whilst of course, on our factory visit we’ll get your supplier to agree to the insertion of the CIETAC Arbitration Clause in your joint contract, and which states:

“Any dispute arising from or in connection with this Contract shall be submitted to China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission for arbitration which shall be conducted in accordance with the Commission’s arbitration rules in effect at the time of applying for arbitration. The arbitral award is final and binding upon both parties.”

And thereby, offer you a little extra protection; additionally, of course, you can include in the terms of your L/C, that monies will not be released until goods have passed random quality checking, at their exit port prior to shipping.

Now, here’s a final question for you, before I introduce you to that fee schedule.

Doesn’t it make a lot more sense to spend another $850 to $1,000 on top of your costs, as insurance against the nightmare of losing your investment, and then having to go to arbitration with CIETAC?

I’m a little tired of hearing about all these losses, when I know that even if they can’t be completely dissolved, they can, at the very least, be seriously mitigated.

But, we live in a cost-cutting global mentality, and have done since the Thatcher and Reagan years; and people are silly enough to even cut costs on their insurance and investment security.

This is precisely the kind of mentality that makes dollars for the scammers, and no cents to me? Does it make cents to you?

Get the pun?

Now Here’s That Fee Schedule for you.

China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission

ARBITRATION FEE SCHEDULE

(This fee schedule applies to the arbitration cases accepted under Item 1 and 2 of Article 3 of the Arbitration Rules, and becomes effective on May 1, 2005)

Amount of Claim (USD).

Amount of Fee (USD).

150,000 USD or less.

 3.5% of the Claimed Amount, minimum 1,500 USD.

150,000 USD to 750,000 USD.

5,000 USD plus 2.5% of the amount above 150,000 USD.

750,000 USD to 1,500,000 USD.

19,750 USD plus 1.5% of the amount above 750,000 USD.

1,500,00 USD to 7,500,000 USD.

30,700 USD plus 1% of the amount above 1,500,000 USD.

7,500,000 USD or more.

90,000 USD plus 0.5% of the amount above 7,500,000 USD.

Each case, when being accepted, shall be charged an additional amount of $1,500 as a Registration Fee which includes the expenses for examining the application for arbitration, initiating the arbitration proceedings, computerizing management and filing the documents.

Where the amount of the claim is not ascertained at the time when application for arbitration is handed in, or there exists special circumstances, the amount of arbitration fee shall be determined by the secretariat of the CIETAC or its Sub-Commission.

Apart from charging arbitration fee according to this Arbitration Fee Schedule, the CIETAC or its Sub-commission may collect other extra, reasonable and actual expenses pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Arbitration Rules.

Safe Trading!

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Trading Safely With China

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

How To Trade Safely With China.

You want to trade with China, but you don’t feel safe. So what’s new?

Trading with China can be a very profitable way to do business, particularly for the small business or entrepreneur.

Beware Of The Dragon In The Machine!

Beware Of The Dragon In The Machine!

However, the safety of your transaction, and the possibility that you may, sooner rather than later, be a victim of cyber-fraud should be something which worries you very much, as is evidenced by the rise of cyber-fraud between China and the west in recent years. This eventuality is evident all over the internet on BBs and trade-sites where people are lodging their impotent complaints of having lost to the cheats of China.

There are, however, steps you can take to ensure the safety of your transactions, and to seriously mitigate your risk. The following information could help you save your investment, heartache, stress, and the personal shame and embarrassment – all of which will accompany such a loss.

So, what does a Chinese scam look like? What form does it take?

Well, before I go into this in any depth allow me to say that the majority of people out there attempting to trade with China seriously need to reconsider their approach in recognising or determining with whom they are dealing.

The Internet Is A Petrie Dish For Scammers!

The Internet Is A Petrie Dish For Scammers!

The one thing all of us should be aware of, is that the internet is infested with scammers in the same way that a homeless dog is infested with fleas; it’s an electronic Petri dish which breeds scammers on a vast and multitudinous scale.

Indeed, it would not be short of the mark to say that the internet is the most dangerous place to perform business.

Therefore, the first thing you need to understand is that the people who are going to scam you are very savvy and clever, running highly organised schemes of mass deception, which have been carefully designed and implemented to trick and mislead you. These people are professionals at what they do. And their systems become more highly tuned with every successful scam, as they learn from their experience as they go along.

Over the years I’ve read a lot of hard-luck stories written by victims and posted broadly across the internet. Sadly the majority of them leave me with a “Huh?” of disbelief at their naiveté.

Here’s what the scammer knows:

  1. There is always someone wanting products cheaply; even more so in the current financial climate.
  2. “If you build it, he will come” If they build a website offering incredible prices, then people will visit.
  3. If you like the incredible price you will email.
  4. S/he knows that a little polite conversation on MSN will further reel you in.
  5. They know and understand that the medium in which these frauds and deceptions take place is called the World Wide Web; and just like a real spider’s web, the spider (the scammer) patiently lies in wait for the flies (which is you).
  6. S/he knows that the law of averages is on their side, and not on yours.
  7. They know that they live in a hugely populous nation laden with heavy bureaucracy, and that chasing them up will be almost impossible for you.
  8. They know that it is easy for them to disappear, and setup the same web of deceit again elsewhere.
  9. They know and understand desperation.
  10. Lastly, they know that you want something for nothing (or at least at a ridiculously cheap price) – and so they give you nothing for something.

All of the above gives them a massive sense of self-confidence, and which in itself, provides them with more backbone than you could imagine.

Here’s what you know:

  1. Wow! This is an incredible deal, I was really lucky to find this.
  2. I can’t believe my luck.
  3. You feel a little nervous about the deal, but you just have to take the risk, and so you convince yourself that it’ll be O.K.
  4. You send the money, and then s/he stops communicating with you, or they begin to prevaricate, or even say they need extra money for your goods to clear Chinese customs.
  5. You received a tracking number that doesn’t work.
  6. You can’t believe what a complete and utter idiot you have been.
  7. You think, “How did I not see this coming?”
  8. You realise you did see it coming, but decided to ignore your own instinct because you thought that if it is real you will have found a great supplier at a great price.
  9. You’ve lost your money!
  10. You suffer a huge amount of personal pain, grief, humiliation, a deep sense of shame, and a sensation akin to having been raped.

You can save yourself a lot of heartache, misery, embarrassment, and personal shame by performing necessary Due Diligence before transferring any monies.

Otherwise, you may just find you’ve given away a lot of money, with little effort, to a stranger you’ll never trace on your own.

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Reiteration – China – A Popular Misconception

Saturday, February 27th, 2010

China – A Popular Misconception.

Further, and more recent email requests for Wiis and Amazon Kindle 2 E-Book Readers, and similar products, have forced me to reiterate a point I have made on many forums before.

There seems to be a common misconception that one can simply buy any branded product directly from China; I have to tell you that in most cases this simply isn’t true.

If you wish to buy the product you want, you will have to go through an authorised dealer or distributor in your own country.

Although a large majority of hi-tech toys, gadgets, and games are produced here in China; they are produced here to be legally exported to traders and dealers who have sole right of distribution in your country, or their other respective countries – not to be sold freely from China to anyone who wants them.

Consequently, the only thing you will find here are knock-offs – or FAKES.

So, all I can say to you is, that unless you can find those legal distributors in your own country, through a request to the parent company, or producer, then I’m afraid you will only ever be cheated.

That will occur in one of two ways:

1. They’ll just take your money.

2. They’ll send you fakes of either very good to crap quality (and don’t expect to get a real warranty).

Is this sinking in yet?

Now, that doesn’t mean you can’t buy from China.

It just means that you will have to forgo the famous brands, and choose some of the excellent, high-quality, OTHER brands (or no-name brands to you), and which are available for legal export to your country, and for which you can get very good deals and make a very decent mark-up when you sell them.

Customers don’t want them?

Then buy some anyway, and TEACH your customers to want them.

That’s how brand names became brand names – and that’s how a true salesperson works.

It seems that the art of SELLING has been forgotten and replaced by the lesser art of TRYING TO MEET DEMAND or just jumping into the current trend or wave.

Don’t try to meet demands – try and educate clients and GENERATE NEW DEMANDS.

It used to be called – BREAKING A NEW MARKET.

Responding to demand is easy, everybody and anybody can, and are doing this – breaking a new market, and REALLY selling, is a very profitable skill.

In other words – Don’t follow fashions – SET THEM!

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Quick Checklist – How To Spot A Scam

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Quick Checklist For How To Spot A Chinese Scam Site.

The following six red rags are simply a list of indicators, which in isolated terms, may or may not mean anything; however, when found all together, should ring some alarm bells. As with anything in business or life, the whole is greater than the sum of its’ parts.

1. The Site.

The website has an absence of any Chinese version for its’ own pages.

This means they’re targeting only one group of prospects – foreigners.

That is to say, people who will not stand a hope in hell’s chance of chasing them up after the bolt is shot.

In my experience, companies in China that have Chinese and English versions of their pages are usually genuine, as they’re making themselves accessible to the home market too; particularly for companies dealing in electronics, phones, and computers.

An absence of such, may, but not always, indicate a potential scam site.

O.K. our website only has English, but we deal with requests from foreigners, and we seek-out suppliers. Suppliers seldom seek us out; although, we occasionally have a Chinese company approach us with an offer and  an introduction.

2. Contact Information.

All the email addresses are ‘Hotmail‘ or ‘Yahoo‘; there is a distinct absence of a company email address.

This in and of itself doesn’t carry too much weight, as many genuine Chinese companies operate with private email addresses.

However, it is a common enough marker amongst the scammers.

You can also try running a quick check on the company’s name and address, via the online English language page of the Yellow Pages for China, found at: www.yp.net.cn/english/.

If they have no listing, then there’s a good chance they aren’t a genuine company; either that, or they’re a SOHO (Small Office Home Office), and use their home as an office, as they usually never come face-to-face with clients, and have no need of an office as such.

However, this wouldn’t usually be the case for a technology company, as they’d normally have to have an official office, and storage facilities out of mere necessity.

3. Company Registration Number.

Of course, as a legally registered business entity, they’d need to have a business registration number.

When once you have that number, you can go to the following Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) page, for contact details of the Local Administrations office, and try to get the data for the government business registration office in the city, and the province where they claim to be registered. You can then email, fax, or phone requesting to know if this number matches a genuine business.

MOFCOM Local Administration Contact Page: http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/topic/chinainvest/localguide/200702/20070204378447.html.

Sadly however, the Ministry’s own website is very poorly put together, as you yourself will note upon visiting it, and a search for the contact data for the appropriate office may not actually work; neither does the page display correctly. I have informed the Ministry of this fault, as have others, but to no avail.

This is something I’m in the process of changing by putting together my own listing, and which I shall make available to registered users of Safely Sourcing China, and collated on a provincial, and city level.

The inaction of the Ministry to properly display this data, and its’ accompanying suspicion which is cast upon the Ministry itself, seems to have escaped them.

4. Unbeatable Offer.

This one is a complete no-brainer; if the price seems to good to be true – then it’s a scam.

5. Payment.

Ask if the company will accept an L/C (Letter of Credit); if they only take Western Union, PayPal, and the likes, then they’re more than likely a scammer.

6. IP Check.

Run an IP address check on the company and see how many other web addresses they have registered to them.

Personally I’ve come across guys with upwards of 2 or 3 hundred websites connected to them as the registrant.

Go here and type the web address, MINUS the WWW bit, into the box: whois.domaintools.com/.

This last one is a definite NO-NO. If you see they’re registered to a cartload of websites, just turn your back, shake the dust from your sandals, and leave.

And that’s about it for your basic checks; more to come in the future.

Trade Safely!

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Originally posted 2009-08-13 01:20:19. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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