What are the red flags for identifying fraudulent bulk order requests and scam distributors?

Several patterns consistently signal scam orders and fraudulent distributors:

**Email and communication red flags:** - Generic greeting lines like "I hope this email finds you well" are a strong warning sign - Gmail or similar free email addresses (not a company domain) for business inquiries - Generic language that doesn't mention your specific products by name - Extremely large orders (e.g. 70,000+ bottles) that seem unrealistic for the contact method - Orders placed via email where the person stops responding when asked for a phone call to discuss - Contact email address that differs from the retailer's official domain

**Verification steps:** - **Phone call test** — Always insist on a phone conversation with large or suspicious inquiries; scammers typically stop responding - **DBT/DIT trade advisors** — Members recommend contacting your Department for Business and Trade (or former DIT) trade advisor, who maintains a blacklist of known scam companies and can cross-check against international counterparts (e.g. French authorities) - **Company research** — Poor SEO presence or website quality can indicate a shell operation - **Reference example** — One member was approached by a company claiming to be Laval Distribution (lavaldistributionste.net) with a 70,000-bottle order; when a phone call was requested, emails stopped immediately

**Historical context:** Members have encountered recurring waves of these scams; one member reported that when they escalated a suspicious French distributor to DBT, their trade advisor immediately contacted French counterparts, who confirmed it was fraudulent.