The generation next is filled with fraudsters and thieves with scam proposals online and it is a great issue for the business to business transaction. Merchants in import ¨C export business should be very careful while dealing with online transactions and especially at the time of global sourcing, which seems profitable at a glance, especially coming from African counterparts. Exercising vigilance and caution is the only way out to deal with such pranksters. Though many import- export scams are related with Africa, they are also universal in nature in every business to business transaction.

Some of the scams in the B2B transaction for the global sourcing market are documented below:

Nigerian oil racket - Cheaters pose as oil - traders and offer sale of more than 10 lakhs of oil barrels of 'Bony Light Oil', a sort of crude oil produced in the Bonny region of Nigeria in the export market place. They offer a lucrative deal at prices much below the usual market rates. Many times present original looking trade and shipment documents. Buyers are then requested to make an initial payment, ranging between 30 to 50 thousand dollars. These people then declare the payment is made as per agency fees or assignment expenses thereby making handsome profits by global sourcing in B2B transaction or Business to client transaction.

Illegal refugees- These fake immigrants pose as agents or buyers and run their fraud business under a phony export- import company. Visas obtained by producing real invitation letters from innocent export units abroad are utilized to send illegal job-hunters abroad. The only way to avoid them is by exercising necessary precautions and always checking out the dependability of these companies. If the visitor's age is very young, the deal maybe bogus.

Refusal of payment of pending bills- This is a smart trick to outwit many people; the fraudster makes the initial payment and gains the trust of an export firm or exporter in the first stages of a business deal. And then he out-rightly refuses to make the second payment for shipping or other costs incurred. The exporter incurs heavy losses and he is unable to do anything about it. So it is always wise to remain vigilant and prepared for such scams while trading online.

Changing Addresses- Bogus import companies or individuals purposely close their present companies and setup fresh addresses to avoid paying of remainder bills, exporters are thus unable to collect their dues. Therefore large orders on credit basis should be fully assessed. Confirming the legal position of a company on the contract papers is a very good idea.

Hence forth there are several ways in which people are cheated and betrayed in the export-import market when they opt for the kind of global sourcing. When things go online, it is tough to trust the partner for the business to business negotiation and to find a reliable business partner in the world of import-export is by itself a great blessing in disguise.