Buyer's guide
How to tell a real fuel offer from a fake one.
Most unsolicited offers for Jet A1, EN590 or D2 diesel are not real. Here is how they work, the signs that give them away, and what a legitimate deal looks like.
01How it works
A fake fuel offer usually runs in five steps.
An offer arrives that you didn't ask for.
A soft corporate offer (SCO) for a huge monthly volume, from a “direct mandate” or “allocation holder”, sent from a free email account or a WhatsApp number.
You're asked to commit first.
Before showing anything, the seller wants an irrevocable corporate purchase order (ICPO) on your letterhead, with your bank details and proof of funds.
A procedure stands in for the product.
Terms such as TTT, TTV and “dip test” describe a process that always needs you to pay, travel or commit before the fuel is shown.
The proof never quite arrives.
The fresh inspection report is always coming. Then a fee appears, to release the product, cover a bank charge or pay a facilitator.
The seller disappears.
Either the money is gone, or your letterhead and bank details are reused in the next offer to someone else.
02Warning signs
Eight signs an offer is fake.
- The email comes from a free account, or a domain that doesn't match the company's website.
- The seller can't name the refinery or terminal, or show title to the product.
- The product name doesn't exist. There is no such fuel as JP54.
- The price is well below the published index, with no reason given.
- You're asked for bank details and proof of funds before you've seen anything.
- Any fee is due before a contract is signed.
- There's pressure to act today, before the “allocation” is gone.
- The inspection report can't be confirmed with the firm whose name is on it.
03What a real deal looks like
A legitimate fuel deal looks dull, and that's the point.
- A company you can look up, with a registered name, an address and a phone number that answers.
- A named source, and a seller who can show title to the product or the right to sell it.
- A quality certificate you can confirm with the lab or refinery that issued it.
- A contract with a price basis tied to a published index, such as OPIS, Platts or NYMEX.
- Payment after the contract, to an account in the seller's company name.
- Independent inspection of quantity and quality at custody transfer.
04Check a seller
How to check a fuel seller in an afternoon.
- Look the company up in its state's business registry. Check the name, the date formed and the registered agent.
- Call the number on the company's own website, not the one in the email, and ask for the person who wrote to you.
- Call the inspection firm and ask them to confirm the report number.
- Ask your bank before you send any instrument or proof of funds.
- Search the sender's name, email address and phone number with the word “scam”.
06How we do it
Our process, in case you want to compare.
Every deal we quote passes five checks before anyone signs. We confirm who you are, that the fuel exists, how it will be paid for and when it ships, and we write every term into the contract. If any check fails, we tell you no.
See the five checksA real person replies within one business day, with terms or a straight no.