[This story has been updated: http://www.barternewsweekly.com/2014/04/15/marina-fiorella-is-a-legitimate-student-confirmed-by-the-university-5626/]
This morning I, along with many others in the barter industry, received an email with an invitation to participate in a survey of the barter industry:
Hi, please answer the following questionnaire, if you use countertrade (International barter, offset, buy-back, counterpurchase, …).
Questionnaire link (English version): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hlCJtQqKXarMVbHuroowAGt3MV9wDNCa0bbG-5gB-ck/viewform
SURVEY ABOUT COUNTERTRADE TRANSACTIONS USAGE IN INTERNATIONAL ENTERPRISES
This survey is part of a research for a Graduation Thesis, in University of Foggia (Italy). It was conceived with the aim of collecting data about the usage of International Countertrade transactions (barter, offset, buy-back, …), undertaken by national and foreign enterprises. Another important matter investigated, is the sustainable profile of involved enterprises.
Please, answer the questions carefully and honestly; in this way you will contribute to a research that will manage to actually illustrate the present market dynamics.
The questionnaire is anonymous, and the whole collected data will be treated with secrecy, pursuant to Italian D.Lgs. 196/2003 (Privacy Code).
Thank you for your contribute
On the face of it, it seems like a nice, legitimate attempt at collecting information on the barter industry. And I didn’t think much of it…until someone put a bug in my mind (thank you, you know who you are).
What if Daniel Evans is trying to use another alias, a female student, to gather industry information?
I have reached out to the University of Foggia via department heads and the school of economics, but the 8 hour difference in time makes it after hours at the university. I expect to receive some communication back from them in the next 24 hours. After I hear from them, we will have confirmed or denied the identity of Marina Fiorella.
Who knew that my italian language skills would come in useful?
In the meantime, I recommend to anyone that has received this email and invitation to participate to hold off. Hold off until we know if Marina is legitimate or not.
Why?
Because Daniel Evans, desperate man that he is, could be trying to use the industry to relieve the pressure of some of the claims of the Ormita Report.
If Marina is Daniel, and he succeeds in gathering the information asked for in the linked Google Document, he can then refute and deny the claims made by the Ormita Report.
I did a quick search on Google+, Facebook, and LinkedIn and found no credible person named Marina Fiorella. But that, in itself, is not a great reason to pass judgement quickly. And that is why I reached out directly to the University of Foggia.
One of the biggest problems Daniel has regarding the Ormita Report is the verification of industry information. He has claimed publicly that Ormita processes “trade volume in excess of $2.86 billion USD per annum“. He has been unable to show real transaction volume to that. He has also made claims regarding Ormita as the world leader with the largest membership, etc. If he can get accurate industry information, and then create some software entries to make a counter claim in writing, then he can make a run at refuting the Ormita Report’s claims.
Sounds suspect to me. Sounds like a good plan for a fraudster. Impersonate a woman, a student, who is working on a graduate project, send out an email asking for participation in data gathering for said project, and if you can get participation, it might finally give you a leg to stand on…
Here’s why Marina’s request is suspect:
- The timing is impeccable. Right when Ormita is experiencing tremendous pain, a student with access to hundreds of email addresses of industry insiders asks for industry information under the guise of a graduation thesis. Very timely.
- Daniel has used Italy before.
- Daniel has used fake identities and has pretended to be a female before.
- Daniel has created databases of industry insiders’ contact information.
- Daniel needs barter industry insider information to do damage control and perpetuate his fraud.
- The terms used are common terms used in Ormita written documents and websites.
- The questions on the survey, while in line with a graduate survey, are too specific, too pointed, and too clear for someone who hasn’t been in the industry.
- The email english mistakes don’t match up with the clear english of the survey.
Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe Marina is a graduate student and she’s fantastic at understanding the intricacies of barter and trade. Maybe she just spent hours and hours putting together a list of barter industry email addresses for this graduate project. Maybe she’s been researching barter for the last couple of years of her business school. If that is the case, I’m publicly apologizing to her and to Daniel Evans right now, in advance. If it turns up that Marina is a fake, that the University doesn’t have any knowledge of a Marina Fiorella, then I think we can reasonably suspect Daniel Evans has made his first attempt at damage control.
