[_Safe Trading Tip_] [_Examples of Fraud_] [_Member Experience_] [_Related Resources_] [_Five Way to Avoid Spam_]

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The vast majority of internet introductions result in a successful partnership which generates profit for both the buyer and seller. But it is important that you protect yourself from the rare cases of fraud that may occur due to concealment of true identity on the internet. Before you trade, please review our Safe Trading Tip. Please also stay updated on fraud alerts which can help you learn about new forms of online fraud that have been reported on the Internet (available at Related Resources). In case you suspect fraud, there are several actions you can take:

• Contact your trading partner and arrange a telephone call or face-to-face meeting. This usually resolves the situation. Most buyers and sellers
   are honest and dependable and problems are often simply a matter of misunderstanding due to language and cultural differences.
• If you suspect your potential partner of fraudulent activities, we recommend you inform the relevant law enforcement authorities (visit
   Related Resources for more information.) You should also report to WTExpo.com any suspected abuse of our website by members,
   so that we may review the status of the member's account. You can send  reports to admin@wtexpo.com.

There are a number of actions you can take to research your potential business partner whom you have met on the internet, so that you can reduce the risk of being subject to a fraudulent transaction or business misunderstanding. These include:

• Choose Prime Members and Good Members as Your Partners

Do business with partners that you have more reliable information about such as WTExpo.com Prime Member and WTExpo.com Gold Member. Gold members of the WTExpo.com community who have passed a basic Authentication and Verification test and additional confirmation of legitimacy and quality.

• Confirm Contact Details

Always confirm if the address, phone number and email address given to you by your trading partner belongs to the same company. If a trader provides inconsistent contact details, for example an address in the England and phone number from another country, we recommend you look up the address in the local phone directory and obtain the local phone number, and call this number to confirm that the person you are in touch with actually works for the company. Similarly, if a partner's email heading states that they work for a certain company, you should verify this. Be aware that some scam artists could alter their return email address heading to make it look like they work for a company that they don't.

• Check the Partner's Background

Background checks from independent third-party sources include a search for legal registration and credit reports. In many countries the existence of a company and its legal status is a matter of public record. If your trading partner is not a Prime Members or Gold Members check with the companies registry in the partner's country to ensure that the company exists with a valid registration. If you cannot have independent access to your partner's registration information, ask your partner to provide you with a Certificate of Good Standing issued by the companies registry of his country or state/province. You can also gain further knowledge about your partner by ordering a credit history report from a local credit agency. Credit history reports contain information about the partner's business history in their relationships with banks and other trading partners.

• Meet Your Partner in Person

Whenever possible, meet your business partner in person and visit his company's facilities. While the internet offers you a wealth of information on your potential partner which enables you to make an initial assessment, there is no substitute for face-to-face contact. If you would like WTExpo.com to arrange a face-to-face meeting with suppliers in Malaysia, please email to admin@wtexpo.com.

• Protect Yourself When Ordering or Providing Samples

As a buyer, order a sample before committing to a purchase order to be sure that the product meets your expectations. As a seller, request payment for a sample and/or payment for shipping costs before you send out the sample, especially if your product has a high resale value.

• Vise Pre-Shipment Inspection Services

If you are a buyer, you can protect yourself against poor quality by ordering a pre-shipment inspection of the products. You can demand the inspection as a condition to payment.

• Protect Yourself Against Payment Risk-You Are the Seller

If you are a seller and have not been doing business with your partner for very long, avoid selling your products on open-account (in which case you are extending credit to your buyer). Instead ask your buyer to open a letter of credit (LC)

• Protect Yourself Against Payment Risk-You Are the Buyer

If you are a buyer, sometimes a supplier may ask you for a deposit (usually 30%) before he accepts the order. While this is not unusual between long-standing trading partners, if you are doing business with the supplier for the first time, make sure you have done sufficient background checks on the supplier before you agree to the deposit, or ask for a different form of payment, such as a letter of credit (LC). If the seller seems more focused on payment than any other issue, or indicates that cash payment must be made urgently, more caution should be given to the transaction. Be extra cautious when the seller asks you to send money to an account whose real owner cannot be traced; for example, you cannot trace the real name of the person behind an account with a wiring service such as Western Union.

• Suspect Shipping or Contact Addresses

Pay close attention to shipping or contact addresses located in countries with a high reported incidence of online fraud and many e-commerce web sites have found a high incidents of on-line fraud as well, such as Romania, Nigeria, Macedonia, Colombia, etc.

• Beware of Fake E-mail Addresses

It is possible for anyone with some technical knowledge to send an email with a fake address. When you receive an email from someone you know or whose email address appears legitimate, but the message of the email looks suspicious, you can verify whether the email came from the person whom the sender claims to be by using a simple procedure to check the email address.