Due diligence - an example
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Here is the search result for "Mazut" oil on Alibaba:
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The seller on top of the list is OOO Yuniteknefteprodukt. By clicking on the company's name will we find more information, where the company claims: "We "YUNITEKNEFTEPRODUKT LLC" are reputable registered mandate company in Russian Federation for Petroleum/Petrochemical oil and gas products. We have direct access to numerous genuine sellers which makes our delivery distinctly unique. "YUNITEKNEFTEPRODUKT LLC" is a registered trading company since 2005 which based in Russian Federation and its headquarter located in Moscow which acts as a Mandate company for introducing REAL Buyers to reliable end Sellers/Refinery that specialized in offering wide arrange of Petroleum Products that are sourced from best manufacturers and processing units from Russia."
Their claim to be a mandate for "genuine sellers" is a big, red warning light. All major oil companies in Russia have issued warnings against mandates. They never use mandates, because they sell the oil themselves.
Their claim to be a mandate for "genuine sellers" is a big, red warning light. All major oil companies in Russia have issued warnings against mandates. They never use mandates, because they sell the oil themselves.
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The address is found after a minute's search on internet, in this case on ec21.com: "Street Mariupol, 6, office 28 Moscow, Moscow."
You will not find this street, because it is spelled wrong: The correct name of the street is Мариупольская улицы (Mariupolskaya street). The -skaya ending is used to form adjectives from nouns. Example: Мариуполь = Mariupol. Мариупольская улицы = Mariupol(s) street. Google Street Maps shows a building, but it is unclear whether it houses offices or apartments. This is a yellow warning light. |
Mariupolskaya street 6 (Google Street View)
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The telephone number is also found on ec21.com. It is 7 - 499 - 3907875. The country code to Russia is +7. The area code 499 is for Moscow.
Note: Some Moscow have area code 495. Some of those numbers are virtual numbers, which means that the holder can be anywhere in the world. The contact person is Verstakov Ilya Arkadevich. A Google search for this name resulted in two fraud alerts on the first page. This is definitely a red warning light. |
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Normally would it be sufficient to stop here. But if you want to be 100 % sure can can you use one of the following services:
- Order a report from Interfax Spark, which gives access to a database with millions of registered entities in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
- Use the service of our investigator in Moscow, which is an expert in economical crimes.