How to Verify a New Supplier’s Bank Details

The riskiest moment in supplier payments is the first one. A vendor you have never paid before is a supplier you cannot check against history, and fraudsters know it. They invent suppliers, clone real ones, or intercept an onboarding email. This guide is about proving that a new payee exists, is who they say, and owns the account you are about to pay.

This page covers onboarding. If an existing supplier suddenly changes bank details, that is a different problem; see Business Email & Invoice Scams.

Why New Suppliers Are a Fraud Target

• Fictitious vendors: A company with a professional website and no real operations, set up to collect a deposit or advance payment.
• Cloned vendors: A real company’s name and details used with the fraudster’s bank account.
• Insider and intermediary risk: A fake supplier added to the system by someone with access, or via a spoofed request from procurement.
• Marketplace bait: Unusually cheap bulk quotes from sellers found through online search ads or social platforms.

The Onboarding Checks

1. Confirm the legal entity exists. Look the company up in the official business registry for its country or state, and compare the registered name, number, address and directors with what the supplier gave you. A trading name that is not on any register, or a company incorporated only weeks ago claiming decades of experience, needs explaining.
2. Check the website and domain consistency. Does the email domain match the website? Is the site new, thin, or copied from another company? A domain-lookup tool such as lookup.icann.org shows registration details and creation dates. A new domain is not proof of fraud, but a mismatch with the claimed history is.
3. Find the phone number yourself. Call the main switchboard from the registry record, a trusted directory, or a prior business contact. Ask for the person by name, and ask a question only a genuine supplier would answer, such as which of your colleagues they spoke to.
4. Ask for references you can reach. Request customers you can contact by independently found details. Fraudsters supply references that are friendly accomplices.
5. Verify the bank account belongs to the business. Ask for a bank-issued letter or statement header showing the account name and number, and confirm the account name matches the registered company, not an individual. Some banks offer name-matching checks on transfers; ask yours. Treat a personal account for a company supplier as a red flag.
6. Check ownership of the payment details through a second channel. Confirm the account details by phone with the person you reached via the independently found number, not the number on the quote.
7. Validate tax and compliance documents. Where applicable, check tax registration numbers with the relevant tax authority’s official lookup service rather than relying on the certificate supplied.
8. Start small and use two approvers. A small initial order or test payment, with confirmation by phone before larger payments, limits exposure. Have a second person approve the new payee, separate from whoever requested it.
9. Pay against delivery where possible. Be cautious of large upfront deposits, especially for goods from a new overseas supplier. Where deposits are normal, consider staged payments or a documentary or escrow arrangement through a regulated provider.

Red Flags During Onboarding

• Pressure to pay immediately to “lock in” a price, and a quote far below market
• Bank account in a different country from the supplier’s stated address, with no explanation
• Reluctance to take calls, meet by video or let you visit; only messaging apps or free email addresses
• Documents with inconsistent fonts, mismatched dates, or company details that differ between the contract, invoice and website
• Change of bank details requested between the quote and the first invoice
• A “purchasing manager” instruction from your own company arriving by email, asking you to set up a vendor quickly

Documenting and Keeping the Process

Record what you checked, the sources, and who approved. An onboarding checklist applied to every vendor, from large to tiny, is more reliable than ad hoc judgement, and it creates an audit trail if there is a dispute. Review dormant vendors periodically and remove those you no longer use, because stale vendor records are a common route for later payment-redirection fraud.

If You Paid a Fake Supplier

Contact your bank immediately to request a recall, report the fraud to your national service (for example ic3.gov in the United States, or 1930 and cybercrime.gov.in in India), and keep all quotes, emails, invoices and payment proof. The steps in Been Scammed? What to Do in the First Hour apply, and preserving evidence will help your report. Recovery is not guaranteed, and unsolicited “recovery” offers are a second scam.

Key Takeaways

• The first payment to a new supplier carries the highest risk because there is no history to compare against.
• Verify existence, identity and account ownership independently of the details the supplier gave you.
• Be wary of personal accounts, overseas accounts without explanation, and large upfront deposits.
• Use two approvers, a small first payment and a written checklist.

Frequently Asked Questions

Note: This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Procedures, deadlines and refund rights differ by country, bank and payment method. Always use contact details from your bank’s official app, website or the back of your card. ScamSense helps you assess suspicious content but cannot guarantee that any message, link or caller is safe or unsafe.