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Iraq Dinar — Get Rich or Scam?
By Sean | May 22, 2010
I’ve just noticed an increase in internet activity about the Iraq Dinar. Back in 2004 / 2005 people were feverishly flogging Iraqi Dinar currency with the sensational story that it was a great buy because the Iraq was devastated and cheap Dinars would become much more valuable once the Iraq economy recovered.
I seriously considered buying some myself but after looking into it decided that with all the publicity about — that was the least likely thing that would happen. In most cases the masses are wrong about currency value and so are most of the experts that report the news about currency. Normally when currency news becomes public any opportunity has already passed by. In the case of the Dinar there were too many variables for it to be anything but a really bad odds gamble.
Regardless I was intrigued today when I heard that people on Ebay are selling Dinars at inflated values amid speculation that Abdul Aziz Hassoun (alternately spelled Abdul-Hussein Abdul Azim) — allegedly a notable expert in the Iraqi banking sector had publicly stated to the Independent Press Association (appears to be a fake Iraqi newspaper) — Said Abdul Aziz Hassoun in contact with the agency, the independent press (Iba) “Many countries have taken action himself, including Turkey, which deleted six zeroes from the currency, and therefore the right of the Iraqi Central Bank could adjust the exchange rate this way, especially since there is a difference large numbers no longer reflects the value of domestic production of Iraq. “
However a search on both of those names in the Economist, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Al Jazeera, MSNBC, CNN, and a search on Google, did not turn up this name (or its variations) at all much less an article about him discussing the revaluation of the Dinar. [One exception on Reuters he was said to be head of the Iraq Private Bank Association.]
Please note that I eliminated from my Google Search the few sites dedicated to Dinar speculation because these are the only places quoting this alleged comment and they are all quoting the same source (the Independent which appears to be fake). The reason I say fake is that there are several broken connections on the site, they did not spell English on the tab that converts the news to English, a check of the “history news search” shows news articles dating way way way back to April 15 2010. All of it smells like “new car smell” from a spray can.
Perhaps Abdul actually made such a statement about deleting zeros from the Dinar. However he has no power to alter the price of the Dinar anyway. If the very scarce information about him is true — he is merely head of a private bank association. This may sound impressive to an American because we think in terms of American banking. But a private bank association in Iraq is not going to carry any weight with regard to currency policy in Iraq.
Just to be a little more thorough I ran a search through Metacrawler (submits to a number of major search engines). I found just a tiny bit more but nothing that adds any more substance to this alleged conversation between Abdul and “The Independent”. There is no evidence of it in any major news source anywhere. The only place where I can find it is in places where people who bought a lot of Dinars in 04/05 when that scam was raging through the Internet for a few months. If there was even a whiff of credible news about changes to the Iraq Dinars value it would be found somewhere at Reuters.
What it looks like to me is that the Independent was thrown up quickly in April and probably engineered by someone or a group of people who were looking for a way to create some buzz and unload a bunch of Dinars at inflated values. Maybe even counterfeit ones.
It is humorous if not also sad to watch the hopeful speculation among Dinar owners — that Abdul’s alleged proposal to delete three zeros from the Dinar would catapult the value of the Dinar by that respective amount thus finally making the Dinar holders of 04/05 suddenly rich. Some of the more sober speculators are at least sensible enough to deduce that even if it were true it would just be a rollback where you exchange 1 new Dinar for 1000 old ones. Not happening. Iraq has too many other priorities not to mention the scarcity of money to finance the cost of making the exchange.
Bad news guys. It won’t happen. Even if it did you cannot spend Dinars outside Iraq. There is no foreign exchange of Dinars. If you are going to vacation in Iraq you may do well if you can buy them cheap (3000.00 Dinars to 1.00 USD would give you approximately 2:1 when you got to Iraq. That’s assuming you can tell a counterfeit one from a real one. I’ve been advised there are lots of counterfeit ones being sold off for US dollars to speculators. Who in the US can authenticate Dinars for you? What if you did decide to go to Iraq and exchange your money and you got stopped in customs and searched? What if you got caught with counterfeit Dinars coming into Iraq? How much faith do you have in the enforcement and judicial system there? Think these things through.
Topics: Good Products | 7 Comments »
July 31st, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Iraqi Dinar is very real, but the pitch many Dinar dealers try to send your way is far from reality and designed to get you buy from them. Some of these dealers even go as far as to explain that they are trusted by the government and supply you with a document to reinforce this illusion.
First, the US government requires a business (or anyone for that matter) to register with them when selling any kind of currency. Once you register, the US Government will send you a letter confirming your registration. IT DOES NOT mean that they trust or vouch for the company, only that they complied with the law.
Read More:http://www.dinariraqi.net
December 29th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Investing is taking risks so precautionary activities such as questioning are really needed. The questions you should ask to your chosen dealers should be very direct. Some specific questions may include, but should not be limited to:
-Can I see a copy of your US Treasury registration?
-Can I see your BBB rating?
-How long have you been in business?
-How does the company verify the authenticity of each dinar?
-Do you give out certificates of authenticity?
January 9th, 2011 at 5:16 am
What about Dinar Trade – I beleive I purchased Dinars that are not counterfeit
January 9th, 2011 at 5:18 am
What about Dinar Trade – around for 7 years – I purchased Dinars from them – do not beleive they are counterfeit!!!
February 24th, 2011 at 3:26 am
The iraqi dinar is very much a real deal. its currency wake up if you think iraq can go another 10 years with the rate of 1170 they will be in trouble. here is a deal just you dont buy any IQD just call it a scam and back off dont worry about watch the value go up and you be very angry.you could have put a small amount of money like 25 to 100 dollars.Americans are so spoiled they spend 300 a month with there habits like smoking and drinking alcohol. coffee and you can call currency a scam grow up.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:54 pm
More advice on Iraqi Dinar here:
http://www.dinardilemma.co.uk/
April 11th, 2011 at 6:39 pm
Wow I think I got more comments from Dinar dealers looking for links than any other single post I’ve made on this blog. OK guys I approved your comments and you got the links.
However let me take the comments 1 by 1.
1. You didn’t really say much but at least advised people that Registration means nothing. Thanks for that. I hardly think you gave much content for the link — but hey I’m still glad you came and offered that bit.
2. As we know certificates of authenticity are meaningless. How does any US citizen verify a certificate of authenticity? Who cares how a company verifies authenticity? What US citizen can verify the verification? As for BBB rating how does that ensure anything? Who can prove to the BBB that their certificate of authenticity is a fake or not? Also if a certificate of authenticity is a false means of verifying your Dinar’s authenticity then do you complain to the BBB that you were issued a certificate from a company and found out that there is no such document issued by the Iraqi treasury.
3. Believing something does not make it true. My guess is that you were issued real currency. In fact I don’t think the biggest issue is whether the currency is fake or not.
But really I think the biggest issue is that the Dinar is probably not a good investment because it is just a fiat currency and it’s value will be manipulated until or unless it is freely traded on the international market letting supply and demand affect its value. The Chinese Yuan will be freely traded before the Dinar and hell hasn’t frozen over yet so there’s not end in sight.
4. Jimmy K. Why post your assertion twice? Does Dinar Trade pay you twice for posting twice? But again how does your belief change reality. The reality is that if they are fake — all the believing in the world won’t change that. If they are real — then why go posting that you believe they are real? Smells like you are working for them or perhaps are the owner.
5. Mike what are you saying? It doesn’t make any sense. However I’ll try to respond. First I’m a currency trader and I’m pretty sure I know the international currency markets better than all the posters that have responded to this thread. Currency buying and selling is not a scam. However if you read my article above I think it’s pretty clear what I’m questioning. Also do you think that attacking American’s or any ethnic group is a way to behave?
6. Thanks for the link mark. I hope you make some money from your blog. I didn’t click the link with the tires advertisement because I just bought some tires. However I still hope that it works well for you. IMO what you are doing is a better business than investing in Dinars.
I also liked your point that selling Dinars is the best way to make money from Dinars. I agree.
However I’d also like to caution people that State governments in the US are suing people now who invested in Scams unknowingly. They are saying that while you may have invested in a scam and didn’t know that it was a scam — that you “should have known” because there was evidence that it may have been a scam and just the hint of it being a scam was sufficient grounds to sue you. What is more they are suing people who already lost money from the scam…. not just those who made money. So maybe it is not such a good idea to sell Dinars claiming they’ll go up in value.