A payment is approved and waiting for release. The file looks complete: a trade licence copy, a company profile, warehouse photographs, a proforma invoice. Nobody can say which of those came from anywhere other than the seller.
Short answer: to check that a trading company is legitimate before you pay, confirm each claim at its source, not in the documents the company sent. Look it up in the official register or licensing authority. Reach it through contact details you found yourself and confirm that the person dealing with you can commit it. Check that one legal entity appears on the register, contract, invoice and bank account, then test whether it can supply this order. Start with the free checks that take minutes, add paid verification and visits as the amount at risk grows, and record what each check proved. A trade licence proves registration, not solvency or honesty.
Five separate questions
"Is this company real?" combines several enquiries:
- Does the legal entity exist, and in what form?
- Who is contacting you, and are they authorised to commit that entity?
- Who ultimately owns or controls it?
- Can it fulfil this order through its own facilities or a documented supply arrangement?
- Who is the intended payee, and how have the account instructions been authenticated?
Answer each separately. UK government guidance for traders suggests asking overseas partners for incorporation documents or references, and notes that reluctance to provide details "could be a bad sign" (GOV.UK, crime and fraud prevention in international trade). A licence copy sent by email remains a claim until checked with its issuer.
The sequence below is a suggested commercial procedure, ordered by cost and speed. Available records and legal duties depend on the transaction and jurisdiction; agree the scope with the people responsible for payment approval and compliance.
| Step | Typical cost and effort | What it can establish | What it cannot establish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Register or licence lookup | Usually free; minutes | The entity is recorded, with status and number | That the sender represents it or can deliver |
| 2. The person and authority | Staff time | Who is dealing with you | Solvency or capacity |
| 3. Premises and approvals | Staff time | Which sites and approvals relate to this product | That conforming goods exist |
| 4. Banking consistency | Staff time; bank checks | Whether the payee matches the contracting entity | That the trade is genuine |
| 5. References you reach yourself | Staff time | Independent trading history | Performance on a larger order |
| 6. Paid verification and inspection | Paid | Findings within the instructed scope | Anything outside it |
| 7. Site or agent visit | Highest | What was seen, where and when | Future conduct |
Step 1. Registry or trade licence lookup
Ask for the full legal name in the language of registration, the registration or licence number, the issuing authority and the licensed activity. Keep trading names separate from the legal name. Find the register yourself through the government's own domain, not a link the supplier sends.
Finding the right register is often the hardest part. The GLEIF Registration Authorities List currently describes almost 1,200 business registers and other registration or validation authority sources from more than 230 jurisdictions. These are sources for finding an authoritative register, not a count of companies verified by GLEIF. If the company holds a Legal Entity Identifier, its record links to its local authoritative source and the search is free (GLEIF, introducing the LEI); many small exporters have none, and that is not a warning sign. EU business registers have been searchable through one portal since June 2017 (European e-Justice Portal, business registers).
Registers differ. The Invest in Dubai licence search accepts a licence number, a Dubai Unified Licence number or a business name in English or Arabic; it is a starting point, not proof that every Dubai licensing authority is covered, so contact the authority named on the licence if no record appears. UK Companies House shows, free, a company's registered address, incorporation date, officers, filed documents, charges, previous names and insolvency information (GOV.UK, get information about a company). Others publish less, or charge.
What the registration details should match: the legal name and address on the register should match the proforma, the contract and, later, the invoice and bank beneficiary. Read the status, incorporation date and activity. FATF and the Egmont Group list "a newly formed or recently re-activated trade entity" engaged in high-value trade as a risk indicator (FATF, trade-based money laundering risk indicators, 2021).
Record: the authority, date, number searched and fields returned. No result leaves a question open; it does not by itself prove the business is fictitious. Where access is restricted, mark the check unconfirmed.
Step 2. The person and their authority
A register entry proves that a company exists, not that the person emailing you represents it. The US Department of Agriculture has warned produce sellers about impersonators who use "the names of established companies, including the names of personnel within the company" (USDA AMS, imposter fraud alert, September 2025). The FBI likewise advises looking up the company's phone number yourself, rather than using one supplied in the message, before checking a request (FBI, business email compromise).
Reach the company through the register or another independent route and ask whether this person handles the transaction. Then ask what permits them to commit it: the register's officer list, a board approval or a power of attorney covering this kind of contract and value. Where an intermediary is involved, establish the seller of record and whether it has written authority from the producer. Have an adviser assess a document's legal effect where that matters. A webmail address calls for further checks but is not a fraud verdict; a familiar account can also be compromised.
Ownership and control. Compare the stated ownership structure with what the register lawfully shows. Access varies: UK guidance on people with significant control allows some of them to protect their details from publication (Companies House, people with significant control). An owner need not be a signatory; conflicting parent companies or percentages, however, need explaining.
Step 3. The address, the premises and the approvals
Ask what happens at each address: registered office, sales office, warehouse or processor? A trading company need not own every facility; the question is how it will fulfil your order, and if it trades rather than produces, who the producer is. Photographs need a known date, location and context. A tenancy or utility document may link an entity to premises; it says little about the goods inside.
Many food exports also need an approved establishment. The European Union, for example, accepts many foods of animal origin, such as meat, fishery and dairy products, only from non-EU establishments listed in TRACES (European Commission, non-EU authorised establishments). Other destinations run their own schemes. Find the plant's approval number yourself on the destination authority's list; an approval for a different plant does not help you.
Check food-safety certificates with the issuer, not from a scan. FSSC 22000, for example, keeps a public register (FSSC, public register). What a document's appearance can and cannot tell you is covered in scanned certificates: what red flags cannot tell you.
Step 4. Banking consistency: the mismatch that should stop everything
Compare the contracting entity, the named beneficiary, the bank and its country, and the route by which the instruction arrived. FATF lists inconsistencies across contracts, invoices and other trade documents as a risk indicator (FATF, 2021).
A different beneficiary or bank country needs an explanation, such as a group treasury arrangement. The mismatch alone does not prove fraud; a mismatch that cannot be authenticated should stop the payment. While questions remain:
- Obtain a written explanation of who holds the account, its link to the contracting entity and why paying there meets your obligation, with legal input where unclear.
- Confirm the instruction through an independently established contact route.
- Ask your own bank which checks exist for the account, route and currency, and what they establish.
- Hold payment while the payee's identity, the instruction's authenticity or the authority to receive payment is unresolved.
Name checks are local. Pay.UK's Confirmation of Payee compares the name with the receiving account for UK domestic payments and does not guarantee that fraud will be detected (Pay.UK, Confirmation of Payee FAQ); do not assume an equivalent for international transfers. Controls for changed instructions are covered in payment redirection fraud.
Sanctions lists. Screening against official lists is a separate control with its own legal scope. The lists are free: the UN Security Council Consolidated List, OFAC Sanctions List Search, the EU sanctions resources, and the UK Sanctions List, which since 28 January 2026 is the only source of UK designations. OFAC states that its tool "is not a substitute for undertaking appropriate due diligence". Which regimes apply to you is a question for your bank's compliance team or a sanctions lawyer.
Step 5. References you reach yourself
References supplied with contact details may be genuine or arranged. Ask for company names, find their details yourself, and ask what they traded, when, at what volume and how problems were handled. A small unrelated purchase says little about a larger food shipment. Recent export records for the same product, such as redacted bills of lading, can add context.
Step 6. Paid verification and third-party inspection
Paid company reports and inspections justify their cost when the money at risk before you see the goods is significant. Specify the scope (registry records, interviews, financial information, a visit or an inspection of goods) and check the report's date, sources and exclusions. An inspection certificate covers only what the inspector was instructed to examine; see independent inspection certificates. Scale the checks to what you pay before you control the goods, as discussed in advance payment: how much is reasonable.
| Check | Trial order, little or no prepayment | Standard first order | Large order or significant prepayment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Register entry, status, officers | Yes | Yes | Yes, plus ownership where available |
| Authority of the signatory | Basic | Documented | Board approval or power of attorney examined |
| Establishment approval and certificates | If the product needs them | Checked with issuer | Checked for every plant involved |
| Payee matches contracting entity | Yes | Yes, with bank checks | Yes, with bank checks and callback record |
| References, paid report, visit | Optional | Two references; report considered | Scoped report, inspection and visit |
Step 7. The site visit or appointed agent visit
A visit by you or an appointed agent tests whether the operation matches the paperwork, within limits of access, competence and independence. Brief the visitor in writing and ask for dated photographs of:
- the entrance and signage showing the company name and address;
- the storage or processing area named in the offer;
- stock of the product offered, with visible lot marks;
- any licence or approval displayed, for checking with the issuer.
The visitor should record who they met and in what role. A visit is a snapshot of one day.
Put the evidence into one decision record
Keep one row per question from the five above, so that an answer about registration cannot silently become an answer about ownership, capacity or payment. For each row record the independent check, its date, the remaining question and a label: corroborated within the stated scope, inconsistent, awaiting evidence or not accessible. None is an overall company rating. Keep conflicting documents with their resolution, assign an owner to each open question, and record why you proceeded, asked for more evidence or declined.
Worked example: one inconsistency outweighs the rest
Hypothetical teaching example. All names, figures and prices are invented; this is not a Maqboola transaction.
An importer receives an offer for 40 tonnes of refined sunflower oil from "Supplier A" at 1,050 CU per tonne, against other offers of 1,180 to 1,220 CU on the same terms. The total is 42,000 CU and the supplier asks for 50% in advance, 21,000 CU.
The file holds a trade licence, a warehouse photograph and a bank instruction. The checks show:
- The register confirms "A Agro Processing LLC", active for eight years, with a refinery address that matches the licence.
- The warehouse photograph is undated and shows no signage.
- The bank account is in a third country, in the name of "A Agro Trading FZE", a company incorporated four months ago.
- The contact writes from a webmail address and does not appear among the officers.
The importer calls the refinery on the number in the register. The refinery has no sales agreement with the trading company and no staff member of that name. The payee, contradicted by the registered company itself, ends the process however good the licence looked. Had the refinery confirmed a documented group arrangement, checks would have continued, with payment on hold until the payee was authenticated.
Common mistakes
- Accepting emailed documents as verification instead of checking each at its source.
- Confirming the company exists but not that the contact represents it.
- Treating a name typed on an invoice as a bank-verified name.
- Relying on a certificate without checking its status, site and scope with the issuer.
- Completing the checks, then paying a large advance anyway because the price is attractive.
What none of this proves
Completed checks support a better-informed decision; they do not guarantee delivery, conformity, solvency or payment safety. Registers and lists change, some daily, so date every check and repeat the relevant ones when the representative, contracting entity, supply arrangement or payment instruction changes. Registers differ by country, and some do not disclose ownership. Sanctions and anti-money-laundering duties depend on your jurisdiction and are outside this article. This is general information, not legal advice.
FAQ
How do I check if a company is legitimate before paying it? Confirm its name, number and status in the official register, reach the contact through independently sourced details, and check that the payee matches the contracting company.
Is a trade licence enough? No. A confirmed licence proves registration, not who is emailing you, whether the company can deliver, or who owns the bank account.
Is a bank account in another country a sign of fraud? Not on its own. It needs a documented explanation and independent confirmation; until then, hold the payment.
Can I rely on an online marketplace's "verified" badge? Only for what the platform says it checked. Check the register yourself.
Next step: related reading
- Payment redirection fraud: how a genuine invoice becomes a stolen payment: checking changed payment instructions.
- Scanned certificates: what document red flags can and cannot tell you: the limits of judging a document by appearance.
- Advance payment: how much is reasonable: sizing a first payment to the evidence.
Resources
- GOV.UK — Crime and fraud prevention for businesses in international trade — https://www.gov.uk/guidance/crime-and-fraud-prevention-for-businesses-in-international-trade (accessed 23 September 2026)
- GLEIF — The GLEIF Registration Authorities List — https://www.gleif.org/en/lei-data/code-lists/gleif-registration-authorities-list (accessed 23 September 2026)
- GLEIF — Introducing the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) — https://www.gleif.org/en/about-lei/introducing-the-legal-entity-identifier-lei (accessed 23 September 2026)
- European e-Justice Portal — Business registers: search for a company in the EU — https://e-justice.europa.eu/topics/registers-business-insolvency-land/business-registers-search-company-eu_en (accessed 23 September 2026)
- Invest in Dubai — Search licence information — https://app.invest.dubai.ae/search-license (accessed 23 September 2026)
- GOV.UK (Companies House) — Get information about a company — https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company (accessed 23 September 2026)
- GOV.UK (Companies House) — People with significant control (PSCs) — https://www.gov.uk/guidance/people-with-significant-control-pscs (accessed 23 September 2026)
- FATF and Egmont Group — Trade-Based Money Laundering Risk Indicators (March 2021) — https://www.fatf-gafi.org/content/dam/fatf-gafi/reports/Trade-Based-Money-Laundering-Risk-Indicators.pdf (accessed 23 September 2026)
- USDA Agricultural Marketing Service — USDA alerts produce sellers: increase in imposter fraud — https://www.ams.usda.gov/content/usda-alerts-produce-sellers-increase-imposter-fraud (accessed 23 September 2026)
- FBI — Business Email Compromise — https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/common-frauds-and-scams/business-email-compromise (accessed 23 September 2026)
- European Commission — Non-EU countries authorised establishments — https://food.ec.europa.eu/food-safety/biological-safety/food-hygiene/non-eu-countries-authorised-establishments_en (accessed 23 September 2026)
- Foundation FSSC — Public register of FSSC certified organisations — https://www.fssc.com/public-register/ (accessed 23 September 2026)
- Pay.UK — Confirmation of Payee FAQs — https://www.wearepay.uk/what-we-do/overlay-services/confirmation-of-payee/faqs/ (accessed 23 September 2026)
- UN Security Council — Consolidated List — https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/content/un-sc-consolidated-list (accessed 23 September 2026)
- US Department of the Treasury, OFAC — Sanctions List Search — https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/ (accessed 23 September 2026)
- European Commission — Overview of sanctions and related resources — https://finance.ec.europa.eu/eu-and-world/sanctions-restrictive-measures/overview-sanctions-and-related-resources_en (accessed 23 September 2026)
- GOV.UK (FCDO) — The UK Sanctions List — https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uk-sanctions-list (accessed 23 September 2026)
