Despite a number of previous warnings, Rusneftegaz would like to once again reiterate that we only sell petroleum products via regulated commodities exchanges, and under no circumstances do we orchestrate transactions through intermediaries. If anyone reading this bulletin has received documents pertaining to a potential commodity transaction through these mediums, it is a scam and consequently should be reported to the relevant authorities immediately. Since such schemes were first conceived, fraudsters have been illegally appropriating the name and logo of our entity and our subsidiaries to produce fake materials in connection with these businesses, including commercial offers and price lists for crude and refined oils. In the majority of cases, this paperwork also utilizes information taken directly from our website, such as written text and the names of our employees, to give it a veneer of authenticity. However, it is common for the criminals to alter key details, primarily telephone numbers and email addresses, to ensure that all communications are directed to the malign actors. In response to this pervasive threat, our Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Aleksandr Filyurin, made this statement:
“We are today issuing another warning about fraud as a result of a number of concerning reports we have been receiving over recent weeks. We urge everyone to vigilant about the risk of fraud, especially when trying to do business in this industry. We are seeing a lot of very naïve buyers trying to buy large quantities of oil products from us, and it is clear that none of them have any real idea what they are doing. To speak plainly, if anyone reading this is thinking about sending us an email from a free account asking us to buy hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of oil, you are wasting your time. You need to do proper research before you even think about doing anything like this, and even then, you need to find yourself a good broker if you are serious about it. I urge anyone reading this to research this process fully before trying anything like this, and to do basic due diligence before committing any money too.”
As a result, we are requesting that all of those seeking to do business with us be in a state of heightened vigilance against the threat of fraud and other serious offenses. Foremost, all third parties should thoroughly check all the disclosed files for clear and obvious errors. Namely, this is inclusive of but not limited to the use of different domain names that have no relation to our official rusneftegaz.com email address to send electronic correspondences, and messages received from internet protocol (IP) addresses located in places that are not associated with us. It is also in addition to amendments to contact data that do not match those published on our site, and proposals to arrange sales with entities or individuals that are not affiliated with our corporation. Likewise, it is crucial for us to clarify that no member of our executive leadership acts as a signatory to any of these deals, nor does our organization have an export department or any other similarly named body within our corporate structure. With all this accounted for, we advise anyone who holds suspicions regarding an arrangement with our company to approach us as soon as possible, particularly if an imminent transfer of funds is forthcoming. Due to the severity and complexity of this matter, we necessitate your cooperation to prevent significant monetary losses from occurring.
