Case studies · 2026-09-16

When the deposit goes to a personal name - where to stop

What follows is a walk-through of a typical situation, anonymised - not a customer's words. The amount is not huge, the process looks normal, and only one detail is out of place: who receives the money.

The situation: a process that looks entirely normal

Two weeks of back-and-forth, samples confirmed, price negotiated to a range both sides can live with. The contract they send is properly stamped, the clauses raise no red flags, and they push harder for payment than they did during negotiation - with a deposit ratio slightly higher than usual. The one thing that does not add up is the receiving account: the account holder is an individual, and the bank is in Hong Kong. The contract says "30% deposit", and their explanation is "the boss's personal account is faster and saves on bank fees."

What public records can show you

The company named on the contract and the stamp is something you can look up: founding date, business scope, social insurance headcount, registered address, whether there are any enforcement records. These are what public records can give you - and they are the only things that can confirm "this company exists and is in good standing." What they cannot prove is "this money will actually go to this company." A clean company record does not mean the receiving account belongs to that company. They are two separate things.

What the records cannot show you

Public records will not tell you what relationship that personal account has to the company - whether the person is the owner, an employee, or has no connection at all. Account ownership, what the money is for, who ultimately signs off - none of these questions have answers in any public file. Industry estimates suggest that in 2025, roughly 23% of importers sourcing from China encountered supplier ghosting or fraud after sample confirmation; the median loss in B2B platform fraud was around $8,700 by the same measure. And there is a quieter path: business email compromise caused roughly $2.9 billion in losses globally in 2023, most of it via wire transfer.

What to ask

"Who is the account holder, and what is their relationship to the company?" "The contract is with the company - why is payment not going to a company account?" "Can we switch to the company account instead? We will cover the transfer fees." That third question is the most revealing: a company that genuinely wants long-term business has no obstacle to switching to a corporate account. What you should worry about is when they only have a personal account to receive with. If they consistently refuse to use a corporate account, that is a stronger signal than any price difference. Copy these questions into the verification checklist, and wait for real answers before you talk about payment.