Ask the Collective
The questions independent drinks founders ask most — answered. Distilled from years of community knowledge so the good stuff never disappears in the feed again.
What are the red flags and common tactics used in carousel fraud and export scams targeting drinks producers?
Export fraud targeting drinks producers has become increasingly common. Members have encountered several recurring scam patterns that share telltale warning signs. **Common scam tactics:** - **Carousel fraud with large bulk orders** — Scammers approach via existing customers or direct outreach offering suspiciously large weekly volumes (e.g. 8 pallets/week of gin and vodka to Germany). These orders have "all the hallmarks" of carousel fraud schemes and should be declined. - **The import licence registration scam** — An importer (members cited Indonesia examples) appears semi-legitimate, quickly accepts commercial terms, then places a large PO (e.g. £40k for a container). They then ask you to register the product for a made-up import licence and introduce a local lawyer charging £500+ to "process" it. Members refer to this as "the old 411 scam." - **Fraudulent credit requests on large orders** — Companies accept high-value POs (e.g. £100k) but then request credit terms. The fraud only becomes apparent when you attempt third-party financing. - **Email and domain spoofing** — Watch for near-identical company names and domains with subtle differences (e.g. "musgrave-group.com" vs the real domain without the hyphen). Generic, well-written emails from unknown companies should be treated with suspicion. **Warning signs to watch for:** - Unable to find any online presence or company information via Google - Suspiciously quick acceptance of commercial terms - Requests for cash upfront or involvement of third-party lawyers for licensing - Offers of unusually large volumes - Email addresses or websites with slight variations from legitimate company names - Enquiries via Facebook from "Guest" accounts **Verification tactics:** Members recommend checking company websites carefully for domain authenticity and running any unfamiliar company names through the community before proceeding. When in doubt, decline and share the company name with others.
How do you vet incoming enquiries from distributors and buyers to identify potential scams and fraudulent operations?
Members recommend treating unsolicited stock enquiries with caution and using simple due-diligence checks before engaging. **Domain registration checks** — When you receive a random email from someone claiming to represent a distributor or buyer, verify their legitimacy using **whois.domaintools.com** (or similar WHOIS lookup sites). Check: - How old the domain registration is (genuine companies typically have registrations many years old; scams often register days or weeks prior) - Whether the registrant contact email matches the company's official domain (e.g. a legitimate company should have corporate email, not generic providers like GoDaddy's auto-generated contact info) - Whether the domain registration country matches the company's stated location — mismatches can signal fraud **Real-world example from the community:** A fake "Emirates Flight Catering" enquiry circulated in the group. Investigation revealed the domain was registered just 26 days prior with a generic GoDaddy contact email, whereas the legitimate emiratesflightcatering domain (emiratesflightcatering.com) is 10,000+ days old with proper Emirates corporate email links. This discrepancy flagged it as a scam. **Distributor verification** — Ask your existing trusted contacts in-market (e.g. current distributors in the target region) to verify the company's legitimacy before committing stock. Members have warned that these scams do circulate and it's worth sharing intelligence within the community when you spot one.