Beware of scamming!

Juraj Mantič
May 29
3 min read

My personal experience with a “government” offer from the Emirates

In this blog post, I’d like to share a recent experience that began with an email which appeared to be a huge business opportunity, but ultimately turned out to be a clear example of fraud. As a winemaker from Tokaj who is looking to enter the wine export market and closely follows global trends, I want to share this case with you so that you can also stay alert and avoid similar traps.

An email that pleasantly surprised me

The first message was professionally written in English. The sender introduced himself as a representative of an agency from the United Arab Emirates, allegedly working with local government organizations to secure wine supplies for government institutions.

At first glance, it seemed like a great opportunity — large volume, serious communication, and references to an Arabic business portal. Naturally, he requested a price offer and appeared ready to start cooperation.

First doubts

The more we read the email at home, the more things didn’t add up:

Payment terms: 100% upfront – no legitimate government agency pays the full amount in advance without any assurance of product quality.
Request for a tender fee of $1,350 – this had to be paid directly to a "government account" before submitting any documents.
Urgency – they insisted on fast processing (within one week) and sending documents so they could "issue an invoice."
No official government domain in their email address or website.

When I looked up their website, I found that it wasn’t an official government portal, but a domain that had been registered recently and didn’t appear to be part of any real state project. On the contrary, it showed all the classic signs of what's known as a tender scam.

How does this type of scam work?

It targets exporters from smaller countries who are looking to break into foreign markets.
Scammers pose as government agencies or their intermediaries.
They prepare professional-looking communication and an offer with a large order volume.
They require advance payment (a tender fee).
After the payment, they often stop communicating — or demand additional fees.

How to recognize it’s a scam?

Real government agencies never require upfront payments through intermediaries.
Official state websites typically use a .gov or similar domain.
Any request for payment via a bank account in an individual’s name is suspicious.
There's always pressure to decide quickly.

Why am I sharing this?

As winemakers looking for new markets, we naturally get excited when someone expresses interest in our products — especially when it’s a wealthier country showing interest in regular, large-volume purchases of our wine. But these are exactly the moments when it's crucial to keep a cool head, thoroughly verify the business partner, and only then proceed with further steps.

Even though in our case it looked like a big opportunity to gain exposure in the Middle East, this was a classic scam, with a single goal: to take our money without buying any wine.

I want to encourage all winemakers and entrepreneurs to always be cautious with “too good to be true” offers. Export is a fantastic tool for growth, and in my opinion, an essential business strategy — especially here in Tokaj, which is known worldwide in the winemaking community. Export allows winemakers to reach a much broader audience of wine lovers (since the Slovak population is negligible on a global scale). It also helps foster and grow relationships with foreign colleagues in viticulture and winemaking — from whom we can also learn a great deal.

But all of this is only possible if we don’t get tricked while trying to export our wines.

If you’ve received a similar email or aren’t sure about a business offer, feel free to reach out to me. It’s better to check than to pay a scammer.

*Note: This article is based on the author’s personal experience and aims to inform the public about potential risks in international trade.

Bc. Juraj Mantič, 14.5.2025