There Is No Deal: Why Every Discount Fuel Offer Is a Fraud

1. Introduction

Discounted EN590. Jet fuel from "Russian export quotas." FOB Rotterdam. -$12 below Platts. One million barrels a month. “Allocation secured. Send ICPO and NCNDA.” It’s all fake. This is not a misunderstanding. Not an off-market opportunity. Not a distressed trade. It’s a scam—structured, scripted, and engineered to convince you that your role in this fantasy somehow makes sense. This article lays it bare: how the scam is built, how real trading works, and why every person forwarding these emails is either clueless, complicit, or both.

2. The Standard Script

Every fake fuel offer follows the same mechanical structure:

• Step 1 – Mass Email Blast: Thousands of unsolicited offers are sent using Gmail, ProtonMail, or burner domains. They quote huge volumes at heavy discounts and carry attachments that mimic refinery docs.
• Step 2 – Broker Chain Formation: Every recipient who forwards the email becomes “an official mandate.” NCNDAs are signed. Chains grow to 6–10 parties, all demanding commissions on barrels that don’t exist.
• Step 3 – Paperwork Ping Pong:"Proof of product" is issued: tank receipts, Q&Q reports, SGS inspections, refinery letters—all fake. Logos stolen. PDFs recycled. No verifiable source.
• Step 4 – Fee Trigger: Before anything “lifts,” a performance bond, DIP test fee, or tank reservation deposit is requested. Always payable to an offshore or fintech account.
• Step 5 – Vanish or Repeat: Once funds hit, either the seller disappears or invents customs delays to extract more payments. There is no cargo. There never was.

3. Real Examples, Public Warnings

“Standic is not involved in any business relating to Jet Fuel JP54. Any documentation purporting to involve us in such transactions is fraudulent.”

—Official alert from Dutch terminal operator Standic.

“VTTI is not involved in any business relating to Jet Fuel. Any documents using our name are fake.”

—Statement by VTTI, one of the largest global fuel storage operators.

“Fraudsters post fake fuel deals online—JP54, EN590, 10 million barrels. Victims are asked to pay for tank rental or inspection. There is no fuel.”

—Rotterdam Port Cybersecurity Alliance (FERM), 2024 fraud alert.

“A recurring scam involves ‘discounted EN590’ allegedly stored in Fujairah, Antwerp, or Houston. The trade documents are fake, and the ‘terminal confirmations’ are unverifiable.”

—Ametheus Commodity Risk Consulting

Every legitimate port and storage terminal involved in these alleged “deals” has issued fraud alerts. Every refinery named denies involvement. Yet new PDFs circulate weekly.

4. Why It’s Impossible

4.1 Real Commodity Economics

• Barrels aren’t free. Every cargo is pre-financed, pre-sold, or pledged to a lender. It does not sit idle waiting for strangers.
• Storage is scarce. Tanks in Rotterdam, Houston, or Fujairah are forward-booked. Operators require KYC, credit lines, insurance. You don’t get last-minute access via WhatsApp.
• Margins are thin. Traders make $0.50 to $2/bbl after hedge costs, freight, and credit. Anyone promising $10/bbl profit for forwarding a PDF is lying or delusional.
• Paper trails matter. Legitimate cargoes are backed by verifiable chain of title, vessel nominations, and live inspection calls—not recycled PDFs with blurred logos.

4.2 Hedging & Borrowing Base

Physical traders hedge price exposure. If a seller dumps cargo below market, the hedge fails and the bank calls margin. It's an immediate breach. There is no room for a 10% misprice. Banks and auditors flag that in real time.

5. How Real Traders Operate

• Traders don’t cold email fuel offers. They structure trades backed by credit, hedge coverage, and operational capacity.
• Deals close through clearing lines, not PDFs. Buyers provide LCs or pay against lifting schedules, not dip test invitations.
• Every trade is backed by ops, risk, legal, and finance. No junior clerk can bypass them. Certainly not a “mandate” on Telegram.
• You need license, infrastructure, and working capital. Not a Gmail account and hope.

6. The Cult of the Broker Chain

There’s a psychological layer too. Once someone signs 5 NDAs and gets copied on fake refinery letters, they feel “in.” They ignore every red flag and keep pushing the story, dragging more people into the fraud.

It becomes a belief system: “This one is different.” “We’re direct to the mandate.” “This offer is from a real tank owner.” No. It’s the same recycled bait with a new logo and a fresh victim list.

7. Legal Exposure

• Forwarding fake documents is fraud. Whether or not you collect money, you're enabling a crime.
• Facilitating payments to offshore entities exposes you to AML violations.
• Brokerage without a license is illegal in most jurisdictions. Signing and circulating IMFPA chains does not protect you.
• Regulators are watching. Banks file SARs. Names are logged. People get prosecuted.

8. Stop the Nonsense

If you think you’ll earn $2/bbl on 1M barrels/month for sending emails, ask yourself why Shell, Vitol, or Gunvor wouldn’t snap it up. They run 24/7 screens, have ships on standby, and can fund the deal instantly.

But they’re not buying it. Why? Because it’s not real. It’s a scam.

So next time you receive a “soft offer” for 2M bbl of JP54 with “tank dip test ready,” do the only professional thing left:

Delete it. And block the sender.

Financely Group advises clients on capital structuring, risk, and transaction readiness. We do not engage in physical petroleum brokering, and we do not support or legitimize any intermediary chain built on unverifiable claims or fake documents. Always verify counterparties, avoid unsolicited offers, and engage licensed legal counsel before pursuing any fuel transaction.