Daryl Beat the Swindle
Daryl Milliner is the proprietor of We Got Your Juice, a company providing mobile charging kiosks which include hand sanitizer and integrated multimedia. The Swindle: Daryl was initially thrilled to have received an email from a Nigerian government office asking to purchase a small number of his mobile charging kiosks. His excitement grew when, eventually, the Nigerian official increased his request to 5,000 kiosks and provided government stamped documentation indicating that two $3 million payments would be forthcoming in advance of sending the product. After much time was invested arranging all of the details, the Nigerian buyer requested $3,000 simply to cover a small import tax. Suspicious, Darryl offered to reduce the amount owed to him by $3,000 in order of offset the tax but the Nigerian buyer urged him to re-consider as "they had gotten so far into the process" and "he wouldn't want to waste all of the time invested over a small import tax." Daryl remained firm that no money would be sent and reached out to Trade Credit Specialty for advice. Trade Credit Specialty was happy to connect Daryl to US Commercial Service, which offers background checks on foreign companies:
Daryl's Advice: Vet any unsolicited requests to purchase product prior to engaging and investing time in negotiating the details of the deal. Simply asking, "How did you find me?" could go a long way in saving suppliers time in the long run.
