Trade office warns of frauds by West African firms

The Vietnam Trade Office in Nigeria recently has warned Vietnamese import-export companies doing business with some countries in the West Africa region of current fraudulent practices.
Accordingly, the office has received some petitions from Vietnamese export firms, asking the office to settle frauds carried out by firms in Nigeria, Cameroon and Togo.

There are four common cases of frauds that Vietnamese export companies have encountered, including tender fraud, fraud in importing goods from Vietnam, fraud in exporting (wood and iron scrap) and fictional commodities fraud, of which scammers trick Vietnamese firms into signing several contracts then they will fulfill a few first contracts on time but for following contracts Vietnamese firms will never receive their commodities after the payment is made. 

In order to reduce risks and lawsuits, the office warned that Vietnamese firms should not transfer money in any way when their partners request (brokerage fee, fee for import license code and lawyer fee).

In order to prevent risks when signing import and export contracts Vietnamese firms should use irrevocable letter of credit, at sight and should not use payment methods, including telegraphic transfer (T/T), telegraphic transfer (T/T) in advance, documents against payment (D/P) and documents against acceptance (D/A).

Some Vietnamese firms have lost their money when applying payment method of paying 30 percent in advance and 70 percent after delivery as for exporting or 30-50 percent of deposit as for importing.

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