How to Check If a Company Is Legit: US, UK and EU (2026)

Quick answer

To check if a company is legit, look it up in the official business register where it says it is based (a US Secretary of State search, Companies House in the UK, or the national register in the EU), confirm its VAT or LEI number, and check how old its website domain is. Then match the address, phone and people on its website to those records. A real company's details agree across sources. A fake one has gaps, recent dates or names that lead nowhere.

Key numbers

Nearly $1 billionlost to business impersonators reported to the FTC in 2025, up from $866 million in 2024FTC, June 2026
28.4%of scams reported to BBB Scam Tracker in 2025 were online purchase scams, and 89.3% of people targeted lost moneyBBB 2025 Risk Report
133clone firm alerts added to the FCA Warning List in 2025 (to 8 December), firms pretending to be FCA-authorized businessesFCA

You've found a supplier with great prices, a remote job at a company you've never heard of, or an investment firm with a slick website. Before you send money, sign a contract or hand over your ID, you want to know one thing: is this company real, and is it who it says it is?

It's worth ten minutes. People reported losing nearly $1 billion to business impersonators to the FTC in 2025. Most fake companies fail at least one of the free checks below. This guide gives you the exact registers for the US, UK and EU, a red flags table, and a way to check the people behind the business.

How do I check if a company is legit?

Check that the company exists in an official register, that its details match what it tells you, and that its people and web presence have real history. Work through these steps in order. Most fakes fall over by step 3.

Get the exact legal name and location. Look for it in the website footer, terms of service, invoice or contract. A brand name ("BrightPay") is often different from the legal name ("BrightPay Solutions LLC"). If you can't find a legal name at all, that is your first warning.
Search the official business register for that country or state. Confirm the company is active, and note its registration date, registered address and officers.
Match the details. Does the register's address, company number and name match the website and the paperwork you were sent? Does the "founded in 2009" claim fit a company registered last year?
Check any license it needs. Financial firms, movers, contractors and charities need extra registration. That register is often more telling than the company one.
Check the website domain age with an RDAP lookup.
Read independent reviews and complaints, not the testimonials on its own site.
Check the people. Are the directors and staff real, with a work history that fits?

A company can be registered and still be a scam. Registration only proves a legal entity exists. That's why steps 3 to 7 matter as much as step 2.

How do I verify a US company?

In the US, companies register with a state, not the federal government, so start with the Secretary of State business search for the state the company names.

State Secretary of State business search

Search "[state] Secretary of State business search" and use the official .gov result. You'll usually see the entity type (LLC, corporation), status (active, dissolved, revoked, "not in good standing"), formation date, registered agent and sometimes officers. A registered agent address shared by thousands of companies is normal. A company whose only address is that agent, with no real office anywhere, deserves more questions.

SEC EDGAR for public companies and investments

If a firm says it's publicly traded, or it's selling you an investment, search SEC EDGAR. Public companies file annual and quarterly reports there. Many private offerings also file a Form D. A firm pitching stock or crypto returns with no trace in EDGAR, and whose salespeople aren't on FINRA BrokerCheck, is a serious concern.

Charities: IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search

Before you donate, use the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. It shows whether gifts are tax-deductible, the charity's Form 990 filings, and whether its tax-exempt status was automatically revoked for not filing.

Movers: FMCSA

Interstate movers need a USDOT number. Check it at FMCSA Protect Your Move. FMCSA's own red flags include an estimate given only by phone or online with no inspection, a demand for cash or a large deposit, a website with no local address or registration details, and a rental truck turning up on moving day.

Licensed trades and professions

Contractors, lawyers, accountants, insurance agents and real estate brokers are licensed by state boards. Search the board's license lookup for the person or firm. Our guide on how to check a contractor before hiring covers this in detail.

BBB

The Better Business Bureau shows complaints and how the company responded. Treat it as one input. A missing BBB profile proves nothing, and accreditation is paid for. Its Scam Tracker is useful: search the company name, website or phone number to see if others have reported it.

How do I check a UK company?

Search Companies House, which is free and covers every UK limited company and LLP. Each record shows the company number, status, incorporation date, registered office, filing history, officers and people with significant control.

Status "Active", with accounts and confirmation statements filed on time.
An incorporation date that fits the company's story.
Directors with a sensible appointment history. Click each name to see their other companies.
Since 18 November 2025, new directors and people with significant control must verify their identity with Companies House, with existing ones phased in over the following year. It's another sign the people listed are real.

Watch for overdue accounts, a "proposal to strike off" notice, a recent change of name, or a director who has run dozens of companies that were all dissolved within a year or two.

Financial firms: the FCA Register

Anyone offering investments, loans, insurance, pensions or crypto services in the UK generally needs FCA authorization or registration. Check the FCA Register and the FCA Warning List. Watch for clone firms: scammers copy a real authorized firm's name and number but give you their own phone, email or website. The FCA added 133 clone firm alerts in 2025 up to 8 December. Always contact the firm using the details on the FCA Register, never the ones in the email you received.

UK VAT check

If an invoice shows a VAT number, check it with HMRC's free Check a UK VAT number service. It shows the business name and address the number is registered to. A number that's invalid, or registered to a different business, is a strong sign the invoice is fake.

How do I check a company in the EU?

Search the national business register of the country where the company is registered. Every EU country has one, and the EU links them all together.

Find any EU register: the European e-Justice portal's find a company search uses the Business Registers Interconnection System (BRIS), which has connected the business registers of all EU countries since June 2017. It's useful when you don't know the local system.
Common national registers: Handelsregister (Germany), Infogreffe or the Registre national des entreprises (France), KVK (Netherlands), Registro Mercantil (Spain), Registro Imprese (Italy), CRO (Ireland).
VAT check: use the European Commission's VIES to confirm an EU VAT number is valid for cross-border trade. In many countries it also shows the registered name and address.
LEI lookup: many companies that trade in financial markets have a Legal Entity Identifier. Search GLEIF for free to see the legal name, registered address, registration authority and parent company. It covers companies worldwide, including the US and UK.

Privacy rules mean some EU registers show less about individual directors than Companies House does, and some charge small fees for documents. The basics (name, number, status, address) are usually free.

How can I tell if a company website is fake?

Check how old the domain is, then look for the details a real business can't avoid publishing. Use ICANN's free registration data lookup (RDAP, the replacement for WHOIS) and read the "created" date. Owner names are often hidden for privacy, which is normal. The creation date is the useful part.

A domain registered three weeks ago for a company that "has served customers since 2005" is a strong warning. Security researchers found exactly this pattern in a 2025 North Korean fake-recruiting operation: one front company, BlockNovas, claimed 12+ years in business on a site registered about a year earlier, according to The Hacker News. The FBI seized the domain in April 2025.

Also check:

A full legal name, company number and physical address in the footer or legal pages, matching the register.
A phone number that a real person answers with the company name.
Contact emails on the company's own domain, not Gmail or Outlook.
Staff photos and names that turn up elsewhere with matching jobs. Run photos through Google Lens or TinEye to spot stock or stolen images.
Reviews on independent sites that span years, including some critical ones the company answered.

Who is behind this company?

Look up the directors, founders and the person you're dealing with, because a fake company is often run by people who don't exist or have no history in that industry. Take the names from the business register and from the website's team page. Check that each has a work history that fits, a professional profile that's more than a few months old, and no public scam or fraud warnings. Our guide to spotting fake LinkedIn profiles shows how to test a profile in a few minutes.

A Search A-Z business search does much of this in one step. Enter the person's full name and country, choose "Business contact", and add the company, city, email or phone if you have them. The report says how sure we are it's the right person, then shows their current job and company, work history, education, public social and professional profiles, news and web mentions from a live web search, and any public scam or fraud warnings. Business searches also show the work email and company registration: UK Companies House roles and the worldwide LEI register. Phone and email checks show whether the contact details are real, the line type and the fraud risk. The person is never told you searched, and if we can't find the right person, the report says so.

What are the red flags of a fake company?

The biggest red flag is a mismatch: details that don't agree between the website, the paperwork and the official records. Use this table as a quick check.

What you see	Why it matters	What to check
No legal name, company number or address on the site	UK and EU companies are required to publish them, and most real US businesses do	Ask for them. If they refuse, walk away
"Founded 2010" but registered or domain created this year	The history is made up	Register formation date and RDAP created date
Company name matches a real firm, but the contact details don't	Classic clone or impersonation	Call the number on the official register, not the email
Bank account in a different name or country than the company	The money isn't going to the business	Confirm by phone using a number you found yourself
Payment only by wire, crypto, gift cards or payment apps	These are hard to reverse	Insist on a card or an invoice to a business account
Pressure: "offer ends today", "sign now"	Stops you from checking	Real companies will wait a day
Status "dissolved", "revoked" or "strike-off proposed"	The entity may not legally exist or trade	Filing history on the register
Staff photos found under other names	The team is invented	Reverse image search

Is a company legit if it has good reviews?

Not on its own, because reviews are easy to fake and testimonials on the company's own site prove nothing. Look for reviews on several independent platforms, spread over months or years, with specific details and some complaints the company answered. A burst of five-star reviews in the same week, all vague, is a warning sign. Search the company name with "scam", "complaint" and "review", and check BBB Scam Tracker. In the UK, also search the FCA Warning List by name.

What should I do if a company turns out to be fake?

Stop all contact and payments, then report it so others are warned.

If you paid, call your bank or card issuer straight away and ask to stop or reverse the payment.
Save evidence: the website address, screenshots, emails, invoices, bank details you were given.
Report it. US: ReportFraud.ftc.gov, plus ic3.gov for online fraud and your state attorney general. UK: Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040 (Police Scotland on 101), and the FCA for fake financial firms. EU: your national police and consumer protection authority.
If the scam came by email, read our guide to verifying an email sender, because fake invoices often come from lookalike addresses.

The bottom line

A legit company leaves an official trail: an active registration, valid tax and license numbers, a website with real history, and people you can verify. Spend ten minutes checking the register, the domain age and the people behind it. If the details don't line up, or you're pushed to pay before you can check, don't go ahead.

Frequently asked questions

How can I check if a company is registered?

Search the official register where the company says it's based: the Secretary of State business search for that US state, Companies House in the UK, or the national register in the EU, which you can reach through the e-Justice portal's find a company search. All are free to search.

Is a registered company always legit?

No. Registration only proves a legal entity exists. Scammers can register real companies cheaply, or copy a real company's name and number. Check that the contact details, address and people match the register, and contact the firm using details you found yourself.

How do I check if a website is legit?

Look up the domain's creation date with ICANN's RDAP lookup, check that the site lists a legal name, company number and address that match an official register, search the name with "scam" and "reviews", and run staff photos through a reverse image search.

How do I check an EU VAT number?

Use the European Commission's free VIES tool. Pick the country, enter the number, and it confirms whether the number is valid for cross-border trade. For UK numbers, use HMRC's Check a UK VAT number service.

What is an LEI and how do I look one up?

A Legal Entity Identifier is a 20-character code that identifies companies in financial transactions worldwide. Search GLEIF for free to see a company's legal name, address, registration details and parent company.

How do I check if a UK investment firm is real?

Search the FCA Register and FCA Warning List. If the firm is listed, contact it only using the phone, email and website shown on the FCA Register, because clone firms copy real firms' names but give you their own details.

How do I find out who owns a company?

Check the officers and owners on the business register: directors and people with significant control on Companies House, officers on many US state registers, and parent company data in the GLEIF LEI register. Then check those people's work history and public profiles.

Sources

Figures are the latest published by each source when this guide was updated. Reported fraud losses are a floor: most fraud is never reported.

How to check if a company is legit before you pay, sign or apply