Buyer’s checklist
What you can actually learn about a UAE company before you sign
Whether you are picking a supplier in Jebel Ali, hiring a Dubai marketing agency, or paying a contractor in Abu Dhabi, the internet holds more due-diligence information than most buyers realise. The trick is knowing where to look and in what order, so you spend an hour, not a weekend, and still catch the red flags that matter.
Why it matters
A one-hour online check often saves months of trouble
The UAE has one of the most active B2B markets in the Middle East, with more than 200,000 companies registered in Dubai alone according to Dubai Chamber of Commerce figures. Most are legitimate. A minority are shell companies, dormant licences reactivated for a single deal, or trade names that look almost identical to an established brand. The public web tells you which is which if you ask the right questions.
The checklist below is what I use before recommending any UAE counterparty to a client. It is deliberately low-tech: no paid tools required for the first six items, and only optional paid data for the last two.
The 8-point online due-diligence checklist
- Open the official website and read it critically. Look for a physical address (not just PO Box), a UAE landline in addition to a mobile, a trade licence number in the footer, and named team members. Sites that hide all four are a warning sign.
- Verify the address on Google Maps and Street View. Type the address in. Is there really an office at that door, or is it a residential tower, a virtual-office provider, or an empty plot in an industrial area? Street View covers most of Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi.
- Check Google reviews and the Google Business Profile. Read the 1-star and 3-star reviews first, they are the honest ones. Note whether the company replies professionally or gets defensive. A profile with zero reviews after years of trading is unusual.
- Search the company name plus “complaint”, “scam”, “refund”, and “court”. Do the same in Arabic if you can. Forum threads, LinkedIn posts, and Khaleej Times or Gulf News articles surface fast this way.
- Look up the trade licence. Mainland companies appear on the Dubai DED name-search tool; free-zone companies on their respective free-zone portals (DMCC, JAFZA, DIFC, ADGM). Confirm the licence is active, the activity matches what they claim to do, and the expiry date has not passed.
- Cross-check the people. Search the owner and managing director on LinkedIn. A real UAE executive usually has connections in the same industry, a work history that matches the company age, and a photo. Ghost profiles created in the last month are a red flag.
- Read the social media timeline in date order. Instagram and Facebook show whether the business has been active for years or spun up last quarter. A gap of 18 quiet months followed by a burst of posts often means the company changed hands or purpose.
- Pull a paid credit and ownership report for anything above AED 50,000. For larger deals, an independent credit rating report on the company gives you the payment history, court cases, ultimate beneficial owners, and any bankruptcy filings that free sources miss.
Deep dive 1
Trade licence lookups: what they show and what they hide
A UAE trade licence is the single most useful document for verifying a company. Every legitimate business has one, and most licence registries expose at least the basics for free: the legal name in English and Arabic, the licence number, activities permitted, issue and expiry dates, and often the names of partners or shareholders.
For mainland Dubai firms, use the Department of Economy and Tourism name-search page. For Abu Dhabi, the ADDED portal. For free zones, each authority runs its own directory. What the free portals rarely show is the ultimate beneficial owner behind a corporate shareholder, or any pending litigation. If those matter for your deal, you need a paid report.
One practical tip: match the exact legal name on invoices to the licence, not just the trading name. Many disputes in the UAE fail because the buyer paid a trade name that turned out to belong to a different legal entity than the one on the licence.
Deep dive 2
Reviews and reputation: reading between the stars
Reviews are noisy but they leak real information. What you want is the pattern, not the average score. A UAE contractor with 200 reviews averaging 4.6 stars is not automatically better than one with 40 reviews averaging 4.2, if the 200-star company has clusters of five-star posts on the same day from accounts with no other activity.
- Sort by “most recent” first, not “most relevant”
- Read at least ten 1-star and 2-star reviews in full
- Check whether negative reviews describe a consistent problem (missed deadlines, hidden fees, poor after-sales) or one-off issues
- Look at how the company responds, tone matters as much as content
- Cross-check on independent sites: Trustpilot, Google, Facebook, and industry-specific platforms like Property Finder for real estate
Where to look and what it costs
| Source | What you get | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Company website + Google Maps | Address, phone, team, physical verification | Free |
| Google, Trustpilot, Facebook reviews | Customer experience, response patterns | Free |
| Dubai DED / ADDED name search | Licence status, activities, expiry | Free |
| Free-zone directories (DMCC, DIFC, ADGM, JAFZA) | Free-zone licence details, sometimes shareholders | Free |
| LinkedIn people search | Owner and management background | Free / Premium optional |
| Ministry of Justice case search | Public court cases against the entity | Free (basic) |
| Independent credit and UBO report | Payment history, bankruptcy, ultimate owners, litigation | AED 400 to AED 3,500 per report |
| Full financial due diligence (M&A grade) | Audited accounts, cash flow analysis, hidden liabilities | AED 15,000 upward |
For most everyday supplier checks in the UAE, the first six rows are enough. Reserve paid reports for deals where a bad outcome would materially hurt your business.
Red flags that should stop the conversation
- Licence expired or activity mismatch. A logistics company invoicing for IT consultancy on a trading licence is not just paperwork, it is a legal exposure for you as the buyer.
- No physical address you can verify. A Dubai company with only a PO Box and a WhatsApp number, and no landline, is either brand new or hiding.
- Recent name change plus old website. Sometimes legitimate, often the sign of a company reincarnating after complaints.
- Owner unreachable on LinkedIn or search. Genuine UAE business owners leave a footprint. Total invisibility is rare.
- Pressure to pay to a personal account or to a third-country bank. Legitimate UAE companies invoice through UAE bank accounts in the company’s exact legal name.
Bottom line
One hour of research is the cheapest insurance you can buy
You will not catch every problem online, no checklist does. But running through these eight steps before you sign will filter out the obvious risks, and it forces the counterparty to be a real business with a real address, real people, and a real track record. That alone puts you ahead of most buyers in the UAE market.
Frequently asked questions
Can I check a UAE company’s trade licence for free?
Yes. Mainland Dubai companies can be looked up on the Department of Economy and Tourism name-search page, Abu Dhabi companies on the ADDED portal, and free-zone companies through their respective authority websites such as DMCC, DIFC, JAFZA, and ADGM. Basic details like the licence number, activities, and expiry date are usually free.
How do I know if online reviews are genuine?
Look at the pattern rather than the average score. Sort by most recent, read the 1-star and 2-star reviews in full, and check whether reviewers have profiles with other activity or look freshly created. Clusters of glowing five-star posts on the same day are a common sign of paid or fake reviews.
What information can I get about the company’s owners?
Free trade licence directories list registered shareholders and partners for many UAE entities. For the ultimate beneficial owner behind a corporate shareholder, or for foreign nationals sitting behind a nominee structure, you usually need a paid corporate intelligence or credit report.
Do I need a paid due diligence report for every supplier?
No. For small purchases and low-risk suppliers, the free checks (website, maps, reviews, licence lookup, LinkedIn) are enough. Order a paid credit or financial due diligence report when the contract value, prepayment, or reputational risk would meaningfully hurt your business if things went wrong.
How can I find out if a UAE company has been sued or gone bankrupt?
The UAE Ministry of Justice publishes some case information, and Dubai Courts allows limited public searches. Bankruptcy filings and detailed litigation history are best obtained through a paid credit report or a corporate intelligence provider that aggregates court data across all seven emirates.
What is the fastest red flag to check first?
Verify the physical address on Google Maps and Street View. It takes 30 seconds and immediately tells you whether the business occupies real premises or just rents a mailbox. If the address is a residential apartment or an empty lot, everything else deserves extra scrutiny.
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