Guide · Updated 2026-10-19 · By the PayOrScam team
How to verify a supplier before you pay
Scammers pose as suppliers because businesses pay suppliers without thinking twice. The FTC warns that fake invoices often bill for things you never ordered, and the FBI's IC3 recorded about $3.05 billion in reported business email compromise losses in 2025. Run these checks before the first payment to any new supplier.
Look the company up on the official register (Companies House in the UK, SEC EDGAR or the state business register in the US, GLEIF for an LEI). Check it is active, the name matches exactly, and the registered address matches the invoice.
Check who runs it. Directors or officers appointed days ago, or a company incorporated last month, deserve extra questions.
Check the website's age and owner with an ICANN lookup. A supplier claiming years of trading with a domain registered weeks ago is a red flag.
Check the email domain. Real suppliers write from their own domain, not free webmail or a lookalike (an extra letter, a different ending).
Search the company, email, phone and bank details with "scam", "review" or "complaint", as the FTC advises. Read what others say.
Confirm the bank details by phone, using a number you found yourself on the official website or register, never the one on the invoice.
Never pay by wire transfer to a personal account, gift card or cryptocurrency. The FTC says a demand to pay this way is a scam.
Paste the supplier's name, website or email into PayOrScam, or upload their invoice, to run the register, domain, email, phone, bank and scam-report checks at once, with a source for every finding.