INTEL
Status: blockedCLUSTERNovorossiysk-Turkish-Med Dark Fleet Cluster added — confirmedStatus: blockedCLUSTERPinnacle Petrol LLC added — likelyStatus: blockedCLUSTERAdeel Mehmood added — likelyStatus: blockedCLUSTERSimar Chahal added — confirmedStatus: blockedCLUSTERSSW Kafcima added — likelyStatus: pendingCORPUS431 entities · 64 countries
← Scam playbook

Scam playbook

Clone firms & fake refinery sellers (fake Gazprom, fake majors)

A fake corporate identity dressed as a real one: a lookalike domain, a registered company with a near-identical name, cloned letterhead and stamps, and 'officers' who don't exist. The genuine company is a victim too — Gazprom Export, LUKOIL/LITASCO and others publish official warnings naming their clones.

How it works

  • 1.The fraudster registers a near-identical company name (sometimes a real legal entity in another country) and a lookalike domain.
  • 2.Offers arrive 'from the refinery' at prices slightly below market — with allocation letters, export licences, and corporate seals that photograph well and verify never.
  • 3.Payment or performance-bond instructions route to accounts with no connection to the real company.
  • 4.When checked against the real firm's registry entry, named officers, or official domain, nothing matches.

Red flags

  • Email domain that is not the company's official one (extra letter, different TLD, hyphenation).
  • A 'subsidiary' or 'authorized seller' the parent's official site never mentions.
  • Prices meaningfully below market from a major that doesn't sell spot to strangers.
  • Company registration that exists — but in the wrong country, with the wrong directors, or registered weeks ago.

What the real version looks like

Majors and refiners publish official domains, registered entities, and fraud warnings. A real seller survives three checks: the registry entry matches the claimed entity, the officers match public records, and the domain matches the official site. Clones fail all three.

This page describes a general fraud pattern for educational purposes. It is not an accusation against any specific person or company. A clean check is not a clearance — documentary KYC and licence verification still apply.