How to Verify a Turkish Manufacturer Before You Send Payment
Super Admin3 min read
Most Turkish manufacturers are legitimate businesses with long export histories. But international buyers are still targeted by fake suppliers, intermediaries posing as factories and email fraud that swaps bank details at the last minute. A few checks before the first payment remove most of that risk.
1. Confirm the legal identity
Full registered company name (including the "A.Ş." or "Ltd. Şti." suffix)
Tax office and tax number
Trade registry details and registered address
Names of the people you are dealing with and their roles
The same company name should appear on the proforma invoice, the contract and the bank account.
2. Confirm the factory exists and makes your product
Ask for a live video call from the production floor, not pre-recorded videos. Ask them to show the machines, raw material and current orders for products similar to yours. If you can, arrange a visit or a third-party factory audit. Check whether the address on documents matches the facility you saw.
3. Check export experience
Ask which countries they export to and request references or examples of export documents with sensitive data removed. Experience in your region usually means they already know the packing, labelling and documents your customs authority expects.
4. Verify the bank details
This is the most important step.
The beneficiary name must match the company name in the contract.
The account should normally be in Turkey, in the company's own name.
Confirm bank details by phone or video with a person you already know, never only by email.
Treat any late "change of bank account" message as suspicious until verified directly.
5. Approve a sample first
Pay for and approve a sample before the main deposit. A signed, coded reference sample protects you if the bulk goods differ from what was agreed.
6. Put key terms in writing
Your purchase order or contract should state the product specification, quantity, price, Incoterm, delivery date, payment schedule, inspection rights, packing and what happens if goods do not match the sample.
7. Keep the advance proportionate
Link payments to milestones you can verify, such as sample approval, production evidence and pre-shipment inspection, instead of paying everything upfront.
Warning signs
Prices far below every other quote
Pressure to pay quickly or to a personal account
Refusal of video calls, visits or inspections
Free email addresses and no verifiable address
Verify before you pay
TurkLink helps international buyers verify Turkish manufacturers, from company documents to factory capability, so your first payment goes to the right partner.
Cover photo: 002 Production line - car assembly line in General Motors Manufacturing Poland - Gliwice, Poland by Marek Ślusarczyk (Tupungato) Photo portfolio, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
