Mustafa Kassim AKA mus Hassan operates Facebook Ambergris/Ambregris Buy & Sell. Mustafa Kassim claims that he can accurately identify and authenticate ambergris by way of photo/s sent to him. He also operates a website – Ambergris Hunter and sells his material on Etsy.
Mid last year the matter referred below emerged.
Ambergris Beware has four problems with this matter.
The first and most obvious is the the material displayed is dark brown/black. The customer states they purchased white ambergris (as pictured on the site). White ambergris is a type of ambergris and not simply a piece of dark grey or brown ambergris with a light patina. White ambergris is light colored throughout and not just on the outside. White ambergris is generally found in the upper northern regions and most often in southern regions, New Zealand white ambergris being the most famous. A good question is; Should someone who cannot determine black from white be believed when assessing photos of another’s ambergris?
The second problem is that the material is in four pieces. The customer purchased ten grams so should have been provided with a single piece of ten grams. Four different pieces of about 2.5 grams each is useless, any tincture attempted would have a very undesirable result. The pieces look suspiciously like the size pieces hopeful hunters have sent to Mustafa Kassim for authentication.
The third problem is the price. Mustafa Kassim demands over US$50 for his alleged “white ambergris”. Genuine white ambergris (NZ) can be brought online for around US$15. However Mustafa Kassim has sold the customer the lowest quality – black ambergris. The material displayed in the above photo wholesales at no more than US$2000 a kilogram or US$2 a gram. Retail price would be about US$4 -10 a gram. The price of US$50+ is most certainly a scam price regardless of the color of the material.
The fourth problem we have is Basenotes. Not only did they force the member to alter the thread but out of the six members that commented two were banned for apparently no reason and one that didn’t get banned referred to a scam site associated with Ambergris Connect. Basenotes has a history with Ambergris Connect and FAPG. We will be expanding on Basenotes in the near future.
Mustafa Kassim made his debut appearance on FAPG on 16 March 2018.
The inference here is that Mustafa Kassim does not know the quality of the material he has presented, so therefore is a novice seeking advice.
Tony Wells is setting Mustafa Kassim up with the fake “tacky, sticky and glossy” test. Mustafa Kassim fails when responding ‘…it waxy to texture”. He says that because that is how ambergris responds when cooling after melting. But then presumably some behind the scenes coaching has occurred and Jo Smith comes in with much the same question and Mustafa Kassim changes his answer entirely to meet the fake test.
And Mustafa Kassim’s reward for being an obedient puppy is a discreet sales advertisement for his ambergris.
Little more than 17 days later Mustafa Kassim goes from apparent novice to the latest online “ambergris expert” offering to “authenticate” ambergris by way of photos sent to him.
