Before you wire funds: verifying a counterparty
The cheapest due diligence is the one you do before money moves. A few structured checks catch the large majority of problems.
The baseline
Confirm the company exists, who owns it, and whether it appears on sanctions or adverse-media lists. This is fast, inexpensive, and enough to screen out the obvious risks. Most bad deals fail this first gate — and never should have reached the wire stage.
When the deal is bigger
Pull ownership and tax history, litigation records and financial indicators — and for high-value deals, verify the site and the people in person. Each tier buys certainty proportional to what is at stake. The further the cheque travels, the deeper the check should go.
The rule of thumb
Match the depth of the check to the size of the cheque. Over-verifying a $2k order wastes money; under-verifying a $200k one can cost you everything. Good diligence isn't about checking everything — it's about checking the right things to the right depth.
Where most people go wrong
They treat verification as a formality after the relationship feels good, rather than a gate before it. By then the emotional and commercial momentum makes it hard to walk away from a red flag. Verify early, while saying no is still cheap.