Document legalisation scams: Things to look out for

If document legalisation was easy, we wouldn’t exist as a company. Everyone would just do their own legalisation and we’d all be out of a job. We exist because document legalisation is difficult. People realise how complicated it is (and how much is at risk if they get it wrong) so they turn to specialist companies like us to do it for them.

When people are looking for legalisation services, they naturally look for the cheapest options. But, in document legalisation, that can be a big mistake. There are some fraudulent companies looking to take advantage of people’s inexperience and desperation and we’re hearing of more and more people being stung by these legalisation scams. We don’t want you to be one of them.

So, in this blog, we’re going to give you some tips: things to look out for and red flags that you can avoid when you’re choosing which legalisation company to use. There are plenty of legitimate companies out there – don’t get fooled by the illegitimate ones.

Reviews

We’ll start with an obvious one – always check the reviews of any company you use.

Check REVIEWS.io, Google, Trustpilot, Facebook. See what previous customers have to say about them. If everyone’s warning you not to touch the company with a 10 foot barge pole, you should probably listen to them. No reviews at all should set a few alarm bells ringing, too. It could be a legitimate new company who’s just starting out (everyone has to start somewhere), but it’s riskier than using an established company.

Also, keep in mind that it’s easy enough to create fake accounts and give yourself 5-star reviews. I’d be wary of any companies with a lot of ’empty’ 5-star reviews – these are reviews that have a 5-star rating, but no comments about the experience. Some review sites combat this by including a ‘Verified Customer‘ tag. These guarantee that the reviewer has made a purchase with the company, so they’re more likely to be truthful than unverified ones are.

Better yet, if you know anyone who’s had to have their documents legalised before, ask who they used and what their experience was like. There’s no proof like social proof.

Quoted time frames

With document legalisation it’s easy to find yourself in a bit of a pickle. You leave it until the last minute and then you panic when you realise how long the process can take. So, obviously, you look for the quickest service you can.

But this is where a lot of people fall for legalisation scams. They see impossibly quick service times and, because they’re desperate and in a rush, they go for it. But document legalisation is a time-consuming process. There’s no way around it, unfortunately. It takes as long as it takes.

I’ll give you a quick example. We had a customer who recently came to us with documents issued in South Africa. At the time of me writing this (August 2023), it’s taking 6-8 weeks to get documents back from the Department of International Relations and Co-Operation (DIRCO) in South Africa. When we quoted this time frame to the customer, they questioned it. They said their partner had recently had their documents legalised for South Africa with a different company who’d quoted them 1 week.

That’s just not possible. The 6 to 8 week timeframe we gave came directly from DIRCO – the official government department in South Africa that handles document legalisation for the country. How can a random legalisation company turn documents over in 1/6th of the time it takes the actual government to do it?

Best case scenario, they’re massively overpromising to get your business. Worst case scenario they’re forging documents. Either way it’s probably worth steering clear. If you’re caught with forged documents, legalisation is going to be the least of your worries.

Just be wary of any company offering a ridiculously quick service time. If the vast majority of established companies are telling you something will take a month or so and then you find a company who claims to be able to do it in a week, that’s a red flag. It could be a legalisation scam. If it was possible to do it in a week, all legalisation companies would do it.

Cut-price costs

Like time-frames, some aspects of legalisation can’t be helped. The cost is one of them.

There are baseline costs to document legalisation. These are charged by government departments and embassies. When you use a specialist company to legalise your documents, you’ll obviously pay more than the costs charged directly by the embassy. You’re paying for the manpower and expertise of legalising the document and you’re paying for the convenience of not having to do it yourself.

A company massively undercutting all of its competitors is a bit of a red flag. Legalisation costs as much as it costs. An Apostille, for example, costs £30 at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) at the time of me writing this (August 2023). If you find a ‘specialist’ company offering an Apostille service at £30, or even just marginally higher, ask yourself what’s in it for them. They aren’t making a profit, so how are they making money?

Beats us. They could be committing fraud, or they could be about to go out of a business in a couple of week. It’s definitely something you should be a bit suspicious of, whatever the case. It could suggest a legalisation scam.

Recent company creation

Check how long the company has been in business – see how long they’ve been established. If a company has been around for years, then that’s a pretty good indicator that they’re legitimate.

Sham companies pop up, scam people, then disappear without a trace a month or so later. After a while they pop up again with a new name and do the exact same thing. It’s like whack-a-mole. For that reason, it’s a good idea to be a bit cautious of newly-formed companies. It doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a scam – they could just be a budding new company just starting out – but it’s worth doing a bit more research into them.

Be careful – don’t get stung by legalisation scams

When you’re browsing document legalisation services, keep in mind that some of them might not be legitimate. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Check the reviews and compare the costs / time-frames to other, established legalisation companies. If they’re massively undercutting competitors, it might be worth thinking about how they’re able to do so. Don’t get stung by fraudulent companies because you’re looking for a bargain. Always do your research!