How to Spot a Fake Fuel Mandate or Refinery Scam (A Practical Checklist)

Why fuel-trading scams persist

International fuel procurement is a high-trust, high-value transaction with multi-million-dollar tickets, opaque intermediary chains, and a regulatory landscape most buyers see only once or twice in their career. Scammers exploit exactly that gap.

Most fraudulent "mandates" never had access to a refinery in the first place. They harvest legitimate procurement language, paste it into pitch decks, and pressure new buyers into wiring deposits or paying for "tank storage extensions" that do not exist.

This guide gives you a concrete, actionable checklist you can run on every counterparty before you commit money or compliance resources.

Red flag #1: Vague or impossible refinery access claims

Legitimate sellers can name the specific refinery, the city it operates in, the storage tank number, and the loading port. Fraudsters speak in generalities — "a major Russian refinery", "a tier-one Gulf source", "our principal".

What to ask for:

• The exact refinery name and operator
• A loading port and tank/berth reference
• A recent dip-test report from an independent inspection company (SGS, Intertek, Bureau Veritas)
• The actual ATB (authorisation to board) or refinery letter, on letterhead, with a verifiable signatory

If they refuse to provide any of these before contract signing, you are dealing with a broker chain, not a seller.

Red flag #2: Documents that arrive too fast — or too slow

Fraudulent documents often share telltale signs:

• PDF metadata showing the file was created the same day as the request
• Identical phrasing across "different" refineries
• Logos pulled from public Google image searches at low resolution
• Signatures that are clearly pasted bitmaps
• Dates that do not align with refinery production schedules

Legitimate refinery confirmations follow established formats and are typically issued within standard business cycles, not on weekends, not within 30 minutes of an inquiry.

Red flag #3: Upfront payments before procedure

Real refinery transactions follow a specific procedural order. You should never be asked to pay before the dip test. If a counterparty requests:

• "Tank storage extension fees"
• "Refinery clearance fees"
• "Document legalisation fees"
• "Logistics deposit"

…before you have inspected the product in tank, you are in a scam loop. Every one of these line items is a fabricated reason to take money from buyers who do not yet know how the procedure works.

Red flag #4: NCNDA before counterparty introduction

A real seller will sign a Non-Circumvention Non-Disclosure Agreement (NCNDA) once both sides are committed. A scammer will demand an NCNDA upfront from anyone who asks a question — because the NCNDA is being weaponised to discourage you from doing due diligence on the chain.

If your counterparty cannot pass a basic phone call or video verification with their alleged refinery contact without hiding behind an NCNDA, they have nothing real to protect.

Red flag #5: Daisy-chain broker introductions

You are introduced to a "mandate" who introduces you to "the seller's representative" who promises to introduce you to "the title holder" — but the title holder never actually appears, and every email comes from the same Gmail address.

This is the single most common scam pattern in fuel trading. Real sellers have lawyers, banks, and shipping coordinators they can put you in touch with. Fake sellers have only more middlemen.

The MinePetro position

We operate from Canada with a published procedure: dip test before payment, named refinery sources, no upfront fees outside published commercial terms, and a documented intermediary chain. If a counterparty cannot match those basics, walk away — and contact us instead.