How can i find out if a company is legal and all above board?
Asked by kirsty m
I have been offered a job at a company who i have never heard of and there website is pretty weak. How can I find out if they are all above board? I am abit worried because the job is dealing with money and Forgein exchange! Dont want to start work and then find out later they are laundering money or something!! I have all these details below-- ( I have not put the numbers in there incase any employees are on here) Company Registration No VAT Registration No. HM Customs & Excise Money Laundering Registration No. How do i use these details to find out? I am in the UK

Best Answer:
Run screaming from them and report this to the proper authorities. My "scam-dar" started going off, and a quick google search or two, along with a recent bit I heard on radio news this morning seem to click. The scam: Criminal organization gets "mules" to do online money transfers using the criminal's money, mules are hired by middlemen, who either don't know who the ultimate employer is, or who dissappear as fast as the criminal organization. These money transfers trigger, within a few days, computer programs from banking regulators who swoop in and arrest the poor sucker, er "mule", who is left "holding the bag" as the real criminals disappear into the night. Couldn't find the exact radio broadcast on the net, but... Usually the harder someone works to convince you that they are legitimate, the more crooked they are. I have seen no exceptions to this rule in my adult life yet. (edited to add another link or two) IF they really are legitimate you should have NO problem finding information about them with simple web searches of business literature/news. If you can't find anything, I would avoid it. You might lose the potential for a job, but the downside risks, i.e. jail far outweigh unemployement or staying with a job you don't really like.
What first tipped me off: http://forum.aa419.org/viewtopic.php?t=9851&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15&sid=d25e24adb5916de7a6f9a024694cd9d7 A better description of the scam. http://www.searchingforhelp.com.au/pages/features/Financial_services/qld_fairtrading02.htm Yikes, the more I look into this, the more convinced I am: http://www.docep.wa.gov.au/consumerprotection/scamnet/Scams/Norden_United_Limite.html
Answered by Random Guy from Texas

Check to see where they are incorporated and what they are allowed to do. Most states in the US they are incorporated by the Secretary of State.
Answered by ProfessorC