3 Ways to check that a company is legitimate

Like any consumer, you want to find a company that best suits your needs, whether you’re renovating your house or looking for the nearest handyman.

However, with scams increasing at an alarming rate in South Africa, it’s important to check the legitimacy of every new supplier you plan to use.

Steps to take to ensure a company is legitimate

What steps should be taken?

Shaun Viljoen, senior business analyst at SearchWorks, says, “Beyond the obvious manual searches – i.e., checking a company’s address on Google Maps, confirming a website exists, and calling the listed telephone numbers – there are a number of in-depth searches that can be conducted to verify that a local company is legitimate.”

Here are three important checks that can be undertaken with relative ease:

1. Conduct online research

When shopping on an unfamiliar website, inspect the URL. If it begins with “https” instead of “http”, you’ll know the site is secure. Also be sure to check the company’s social media presence and be on the lookout for customer reviews on Facebook, Google, Trust Pilot, and Hello Peter. These should give you some idea of the credibility of the company in question.

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2. Conduct verifications of the company and its directors via the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC).

According to Viljoen, it is vital to:

• Ensure the company exists and the status on the system is “In Business”
• Ensure all participating directors are indeed active and have not resigned or are not deceased
• Confirm the company’s physical address

3. Vet the company via a face-to-face meeting: 

Whether by Skype, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom. Visits to the site of the company are also an excellent way of ensuring validity.

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