Every buyer who has been burned by an overseas supplier will tell you the same thing: the warning signs were there. They were just easy to rationalise away when the price was 30% below everyone else.
1. Confirm they actually manufacture
Ask for a video walkthrough of the production line, filmed live rather than pre-recorded. A genuine manufacturer will do this without hesitation. A trading company will offer photographs, a factory "partner" visit, or a reason why today is inconvenient.
2. Match the business licence to the bank account
The single most effective fraud check: the beneficiary name on the proforma invoice must match the registered company name on the business licence, character for character. Payment redirected to a personal account or a third-party "agent" is the point at which most losses become unrecoverable.
3. Verify certifications at source
ISO, CE and UL certificates are trivially forged. Every legitimate certification body maintains a public register — check the certificate number there, not against the PDF you were emailed.
4. Read the mill certificates, not just the datasheet
For metals, polymers and chemicals, the EN 10204 3.1 certificate or COA should carry heat or lot numbers that appear on the physical packaging. Ask for a sample certificate from a recent shipment before you order.
5. Insist on a pre-shipment inspection
A third-party inspection costs a few hundred dollars against a container worth tens of thousands. A supplier who resists an inspection clause is telling you something.
6. Start small, but not too small
A trial order establishes the relationship, but an order too small to matter commercially will not receive representative attention. Order enough that the supplier cares about the repeat.
7. Check the response pattern, not just the response
Technical questions reveal more than commercial ones. Ask something specific about tolerance, material grade or test method. A manufacturer answers from knowledge; an intermediary answers after a delay, in language lifted from a datasheet.
8. Use verifiable payment terms
An L/C at sight costs more than a T/T but converts a trust problem into a documentary one. For first orders above a threshold you are not comfortable losing, the bank fee is cheap insurance.
9. Talk to a reference in your own market
Ask for a customer in your country or region, then actually call them. Suppliers who have genuine long-term relationships will provide one; those who do not will explain that confidentiality prevents it.
The two that catch most fraud
If you do nothing else from this list: verify the bank account matches the registered entity, and check certification numbers against the issuing body register. Those two checks catch the overwhelming majority of cases we see reported.
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