How do you vet incoming enquiries from distributors and buyers to identify potential scams and fraudulent operations?

Members recommend treating unsolicited stock enquiries with caution and using simple due-diligence checks before engaging.

**Domain registration checks** — When you receive a random email from someone claiming to represent a distributor or buyer, verify their legitimacy using **whois.domaintools.com** (or similar WHOIS lookup sites). Check: - How old the domain registration is (genuine companies typically have registrations many years old; scams often register days or weeks prior) - Whether the registrant contact email matches the company's official domain (e.g. a legitimate company should have corporate email, not generic providers like GoDaddy's auto-generated contact info) - Whether the domain registration country matches the company's stated location — mismatches can signal fraud

**Real-world example from the community:** A fake "Emirates Flight Catering" enquiry circulated in the group. Investigation revealed the domain was registered just 26 days prior with a generic GoDaddy contact email, whereas the legitimate emiratesflightcatering domain (emiratesflightcatering.com) is 10,000+ days old with proper Emirates corporate email links. This discrepancy flagged it as a scam.

**Distributor verification** — Ask your existing trusted contacts in-market (e.g. current distributors in the target region) to verify the company's legitimacy before committing stock.

Members have warned that these scams do circulate and it's worth sharing intelligence within the community when you spot one.