Search the company on Companies House; it's free. A real UK brand should show as active, with an incorporation date, named directors and accounts filed on time. Then check the email came from the brand's own website domain, not Gmail or Outlook. Four red flags catch most scams: a free-mail address, “payment after your first post” from a brand you don't know, being asked to buy the product yourself, and an “ambassador” scheme with a joining fee.
What should you look for on Companies House?
Search the brand name, or the company name in their website's footer. UK companies have to show their registered name and number on their website, so a brand with no company details anywhere is a warning in itself.
Status: “Active”. Dissolved, in liquidation or “proposal to strike off” means don't proceed.
Incorporation date: a company formed last month isn't necessarily a scam, but it has no track record. Weigh it with everything else.
Accounts: filed and not overdue. Overdue accounts can mean a company that isn’t really trading.
Officers: named directors. Check whether the person emailing you is one of them, or can explain their role.
Registered address: a formation agent's address is common for small businesses and isn't a problem by itself.
The search is free and shows the company's filed documents too. Sole traders don't appear on Companies House. If a brand says it's a sole trader, look for reviews, a real trading history, and a website that's more than a few weeks old.
Does the email match the company?
The email should come from the brand’s own domain, such as name@brandname.co.uk, matching the website you checked. Read the domain carefully: scammers register look-alikes with one letter changed or a different ending.
If the offer arrives by DM, reply asking them to confirm by email from the company domain. A real brand manager can do that in a minute.
What are the red flags in a brand deal?
A Gmail, Outlook or Hotmail address from a company that claims to have a marketing team.
“We'll pay after your first post” from a brand you've never worked with. It isn't a scam in itself, but it's how most non-payment starts.
You buy the product first, with a promise of a refund plus a fee. This is the most common scam: the refund never arrives.
An “ambassador programme” with a joining fee, a starter kit you pay for, or a discount code as the only reward. Real brands pay creators; they don’t charge them.
Pressure to decide today, or to move the conversation to WhatsApp or Telegram.
A link to “claim your collaboration” or log in. Never enter your Instagram or TikTok password on a page a brand sends you.
One of these is a reason to slow down. Two or more, walk away.
What if the brand is real but you're unsure about payment?
A real company can still pay late. Agree the fee, deliverables and dates in writing before you start, and ask for payment up front, a deposit, or the fee held by a third party. How escrow works for creator deals explains what to check, and what to do if a brand hasn’t paid covers the rest.
Check the offer is fair before you accept it, too. UK creator rates for 2026 and the rate calculator show published market prices, so a lowball offer is easy to spot.
How does Sponsarva check brands?
Every brand on Sponsarva is checked against Companies House before it can fund a deal, and a verified badge shows on its profile. The brand pays the fee into Stripe escrow before you start, so there's no “payment after your first post”. How we verify both sides.
Yes. Searching and viewing company details, directors and filed documents is free on the Companies House service.
It may be a sole trader, a partnership or a business registered outside the UK. None of those is a scam in itself, but you have less to check, so ask for payment up front or held by a third party.
Not always, but it's the most common way creators lose money. A real brand ships the product to you, or reimburses you before you post, not after.
Yes. That’s why the email domain matters as much as the company search: a real company name from a Gmail address proves nothing.
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