INTERNATIONAL MARITIME BUREAU REPORTS FAKE SCRAP SHIPMENT SCAMS
July 1st, 2011
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Maritime Bureau (IMB) has warned scrap buyers to beware of fraudsters selling phantom waste metal cargoes that never arrive at port. The IMB - part of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) - says the scam involves a sophisticated abuse of bills of lading, letters of credit and associated documents. These fool buyers into believing real metal cargoes have left port, triggering bank payments. But the containers never arrive and the fraudsters escape with the cash.
IMB deputy director Michael Howlett told Metal Bulletin: ...
Full access to this article can be arranged with permission from the client that first ordered it. Please contact us to request access. Entries are uploaded to our archive at least one year after being published by a client – free access is restricted to International News Services journalists for background research only. The article date indicates when copy was filed to a client, not when posted to this archive. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.