12 red flags to check before paying a new overseas supplier

The twelve checkable flags

Each of these can be checked against public sources before money moves. One or two flags with good explanations are normal business; several at once are not.

1. You cannot find the company in its national register. Search the official register, not Google: our guides cover the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. Not findable means no payment until resolved. This one is a hard stop, not a flag.
2. The register status is not active. Dissolved, liquidation, strike-off proceedings, insolvency markers.
3. The company is less than a year old. Not damning by itself; young companies are often honest. Weigh it against the size of the prepayment and the age the supplier claims for itself.
4. The name on the invoice differs from the registered name. Suffixes count: "(UK) Ltd", "Trading", "GmbH" versus "UG". Trade names happen legitimately, but they should be findable on the register record.
5. The registration number on the paperwork does not match the register. A wrong or borrowed number on an otherwise polished invoice is a serious sign.
6. The VAT number fails validation. Check EU numbers in VIES, UK numbers with HMRC.
7. Filings are overdue, where the jurisdiction publishes that (the UK register flags it directly).
8. The address they gave you is inconsistent with the register, and the inconsistency has no ready explanation (an accountant's registered office is normal; a different city with a story that keeps shifting is not).
9. Directors or control changed in the last few months. Visible in filing histories. Fresh control changes right before your first big payment deserve a question.
10. The bank account country does not match the company's country. The IBAN's first two letters tell you. There are honest reasons; get one, by phone.
11. A sanctions list matches the company or a director. Free to check; see the sanctions guide.
12. The website names no legal entity. Germany and France legally require a legal notice; anywhere, a commercial site that never says who owns it is telling you something.

The behavioral flags

• Pressure to pay fast: "the price expires today", "the shipment leaves tonight".
• Unusually deep discounts for full prepayment.
• Refusal to take a phone or video call, or a "manager" who is never available.
• Payment to a personal account, a payment app, or a "temporary" account.
• A push to move off the platform or channel you found them on before anything is verified. On marketplaces this also usually voids buyer protection; see the marketplace supplier guide.

What to do with the results: one or two explainable flags, ask directly and verify the answers by callback. Three or more, or any hard stop, walk away or escalate to a full verification before any money moves.

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