Top 5 Physical-Commodity Scams to Avoid: Red-Flag Patterns, Fake Paper Trails, and Why Real Traders Walk Away
Top 5 Commodity “Deals” That Scream Scam. Fake Discounts, Endless Broker Chains, And The Greed They Feed
Why These Pitches Keep Popping Up
They tease a monster discount, brag about “risk free” flips, and dangle six-figure broker cuts. The paperwork arrives on Gmail. The seller stays camera-shy. You smell money, they smell blood.
- Discounts bigger than ten percent to market.
- Broker chains six persons deep, all chasing fat fees.
- Millions on offer, yet nobody can point to an audited balance sheet.
- Key words sprayed like confetti. LOI, ICPO, CI DIP PAY, CIF Dubai. Some terms live in real trade. In these pitches they cover up the emptiness.
1. Bonny Light TTO Reassignment Fees
Pitch. A tanker full of Nigerian BLCO floats offshore. Pay a “reassignment” fee, grab it at ten dollars under Brent, and pocket the spread tomorrow.
What goes wrong. Allocation letters carry fake NNPC seals, AIS tracks are Photoshopped, the fee vanishes. Crude never ships.
2. Gold Dore And The Dubai Discount Mirage
Pitch. A Ghana seller will fly two hundred kilos to Dubai. Buyer pays after refinery assay. Seller gives a twelve percent discount. First, buyer wires an “export tax”.
Reality check. Anyone holding real bullion can walk into AsanSka in Accra and sell at spot. Why haul it to Dubai and gift a double-digit haircut? Because the gold is a ghost and the export tax is the score.
3. ICUMSA-45 Sugar Chains
Pitch. A mill in Brazil waves one hundred fifty thousand tons a month at sixty bucks below Platts. Twelve brokers pile on, each demanding five percent.
The truth. Mills lock yearly offtake with majors. Huge discounts sized for WhatsApp groups never leave Santos.
4. SKR Monetisation Fantasies
Pitch. A safe-keeping receipt from a Swiss vault backs up billions in bullion. A loan at eighty five percent LTV is on the table, non-recourse of course. Pay “legal fees” up front.
Cold facts. One phone call to the vault kills ninety nine percent of these stories. The receipt code does not exist, the bullion never sat in the cage, and the upfront fee walks.
5. EN590, D2 And Mazut Discount Carousel
Pitch. Seller claims control of millions of barrels in Rotterdam at one hundred dollars below Platts. Payment uses CI DIP PAY. Inspection happens after broker fees hit the account.
Street view. Real holders move product under LC with SGS at load and discharge. A triple-digit discount would trigger a trading desk stampede. No stampede, no cargo.
Quick Pattern Table
| Red flag | Reality in genuine trade |
|---|---|
| Price gap bigger than ten percent | Margins sit in low single digits |
| Broker chain longer than three names | Direct mandates, tight fee caps |
| Docs by Gmail only | Secure data rooms or bank channels |
| Advance “verification” money | Funds move after inspection |
| Seller no one has heard of yet claims to control millions | Large volumes rest with majors everyone knows |
Final Note On Greed And Shadows
You are chasing a discount that breaks the laws of supply and demand. The seller, who supposedly spent millions digging oil or melting ore, now begs strangers online to bail him out. The math fails. The story wobbles. The only cash guaranteed to move is the “small” upfront fee leaving your account.
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