A fake exporter in India is usually a business that takes money for goods it cannot or does not intend to supply, or a real supplier whose identity has been copied by someone else. Most export scams follow a small number of patterns, and almost all depend on you paying before you have verified anything.
We describe the patterns in general terms below. They are not unique to India, and the large majority of Indian exporters are honest. The purpose is to help you recognise the shape of a bad deal early.
Pattern 1: the advance for a sample or a fee
The supplier asks for payment up front for samples, courier, a registration fee, a lab fee or a customs clearance charge. The amount is small enough to seem reasonable. Then another charge appears. The goods never arrive.
A genuine supplier may ask you to pay for samples and courier, but the account will be a verified company account and the sample will arrive. If new fees keep appearing, stop. Pay against a proforma invoice that names the legal entity, or use a courier account you control.
Pattern 2: the changed bank details
You have a real supplier and a real order. Shortly before payment, an email arrives, apparently from your contact, saying the bank account has changed. The email is from a copied or hacked address. The money goes to a stranger.
The defence is a rule, not a clever eye: any change of bank details is confirmed by phone, on a number you already held, before payment. Read how to check bank details on an invoice.
Pattern 3: the sample that does not match the shipment
This one is not an outright theft, but it is costly. The sample is excellent. The shipment is a cheaper grade, short-weight, or mixed with something else. By the time it arrives the supplier has been paid.
The defence is independent control of the lot: testing, inspection and loading supervision before the balance is released. Draw the sample for testing from the actual lot, not from a bag the supplier hands you. See what happens when goods fail inspection.
Pattern 4: the cloned or ghost supplier
Someone builds a website using photographs and details of a real factory, or invents a company with stock photos of a plant. They quote attractively and ask for payment into an account that does not belong to the company they claim to be.
Registrations are the quickest way to tell. Look up the GSTIN and IEC they give you and check that the registered address and legal name match the account holder. A real factory's number will often be real, so also call the factory on a number you found independently and ask whether this person is employed there.
Pattern 5: the paper that is not real
Some fraudsters send convincing documents: a lab certificate, an inspection report, a bill of lading. Some are altered from genuine ones. Some are invented from nothing.
Verify documents at the source, with the issuing body, not with the number the supplier gives you. Checking a chemical certificate is genuine and knowing a lab report is not borrowed show how.
Payment habits that blunt most scams
No payment habit is perfect, but these cut most of the risk:
- Pay only into a bank account in the exact legal name of the company you verified.
- Split payment so that a large part is released only after independent inspection and before shipment documents are released.
- Never pay a personal account, a payment-app handle or a third-party account.
- Use a bank-supported instrument, such as a documentary letter of credit, where the order size justifies the cost. Your bank can explain the options.
- If you have been defrauded, tell your bank immediately, since early notice is the best chance of recall, and report to the relevant authorities in both countries. Policies change, so ask your bank and local police which agency to contact.
How we work
We find and audit manufacturers, check documents and samples, have lots tested, and supervise production and loading. You pay the factory directly, so there is no middleman account. Book a free sourcing review if you have a supplier you are unsure about.