Sales platforms, such as Ebay, Etsy etc. are probably the easiest venues for scammers to ply their sordid trade. It is unlikely that the sales platforms themselves deliberately provide their services for abuse by scammers. It’s just that the platforms make it easy for any scammer to set up an authentic looking site.
As part of its ongoing effort to warn people of ambergris related scams and in an effort to thwart scammers attempts at deliberately and willfully defrauding people a page is now dedicated to sales platforms.
EBAY
The scammer below operates as Marethesaurum and claims to be based at or from Ireland. The advertisement is for one gram. At EUR 49,00 it is extremely expensive and that is the first alarm bell for potential customers.
The above image is the second alarm bell. The multiple colors would indicate the piece is very unlikely to be authentic ambergris.
The third alarm bell is that the piece has been cut. Avoid purchasing real ambergris that has been cut. Authentic ambergris would not have a thin layer of grey followed by yellow and then white.
“Beware of synthetic Ambergris …”. Wise words but not from this scammer. This scammer has gone to the next level. They have referred to AMBERGRISBEWARE. This is a tactic that has been employed before. The scammers believe that because they refer to AmbergrisBeware potential customers will think they are verified or authenticated by us. They are not. AmbergrisBeware does not promote any ambergris vendors. To the knowledge of AmbergrisBeware there is only one genuine vendor of authentic ambergris in the world. You won’t find them on Ebay or Etsy or any other sales platform. You won’t find them on Instagram, X, Twitter, Tic Toc or other social media sites. They do have a webpage, and you won’t find them at the top rank of your search engine either because they don’t buy it from Google. The only way they can be identified is by their imagery of genuine ambergris and a realistic pricing structure.
The following rings the fourth and final alarm bell:
CLASSIFIED AS TOXIC BY INGESTION, INHALATION AND SKIN CONTACT.
The above is supposed to be a GCMS (Gas Chronography Mass Spectrometer) test for the toxic garbage that this vile scammer is attempting to poison people with.
The first thing is it has no heading stating who or what the laboratory/scientist is that has allegedly performed the test. It is labelled ‘Analysis from extracts of whale faeces’. Real ambergris is not whale faeces or excrement. Nor does the test relate to any specific piece of material related to the sale advert.
The second is that none of the compounds extracted relate whatsoever to ambergris. The primary compounds in genuine ambergris are, ambrein, epicoprostanol and coprostanone, amongst others. None of these are present in the alleged analysis report.
Palmitic acid is present in ambergris but also in Palm Oil. However, the most concerning is the presence of Palmatoyl Choride, a toxin.
This material on sale at EUR 49 a gram is most likely the toxic by-product of palm oil production. It should not be touched. It is dangerous.
Lastly, some appropriate feedback for this vile scammer.
Next: RAELURA
Another try-hard scammer that’s hoping to fool gullible customers with tricks and treats. Raelura is bringing this scam from Morocco. And they intend to fleece you to the whacking tune of US$100 a gram. Yes that’s a 2-gram lump of fake you’re looking at there. But wait, raelura casts the first bait:
That’s correct. The above analysis report includes Ambrein, epicoprostanol and coprostanone, so that would mean that the US$200 piece of white stuff must be ambergris. Right? Look below:
Amber. A completely different material. Raelura is pulling a fast one. They have thrown in a GCMS report that they have downloaded from the web and then pasted a possibly genuine analysis report of some amber. And they are hoping the unsuspecting will not notice. Not likely. Not with AmbergrisBeware on their case.
At Raelura, we conduct a scam operation on Ebay … And they estimate the age at 180+ years, and that’s based on expert assessment. Raelura are not even expert scammers. Amateurs.
Irish Gold/White? It’s fake.
It is important that prospective buyers know that most of these scammers are networked. Many are sponsored by the IFRA. The scammers communicate via WhatsApp and other similar platforms. They then support each other’s scams. One scammer will buy something cheap on another scammers Ebay or Etsy site and leave good feedback. The money the scammer has received will then be spent on the other scammers site with favorable feedback. There is a small attrition through fees but that is mitigated with their first real punter. So, if you see a vendor with good feedback it does not necessarily mean they are genuine. Beware.
Next: ANECDOTES_CORNER
Anecdotes_corner tries to convince us the fake muck that they are using to try and defraud people with is ‘120 years old’, ’60 years old’ and ‘spiritual ambergris’. At $USD70.00 a gram it’s a genuine rip-off.
Little more need be said about this vendor. They have no ambergris to sell. Beware.
Next: TERRY_LYCH
Terry-lych is not going to sell you ambergris. Instead, you will get, “undigested shellfish saturated with whal gastric extract”. Whatever that is. According to Terry it will fix your body odor. Terry also tells us it’s a “Ambergris stone”. It well could be stone. Some feedback for terry-lych:
Yep, it’s likely industrial waste by-product.
Next: DBRO7687
This dodgy offering by dbro7687 is from Italy (or so they say). The lump of something that’s almost certainly not ambergris is said to weigh 30 grams. So, EUR 23 is not the most expensive but is beyond what any sensible buyer would consider paying for authentic ambergris. Dbro7687 has a couple more lumps of over-priced stuff but as yet has no feedback, which is some good news because it suggests they are not part of a scam network. All the same, avoid.
To be continued ….