Vendor due diligence
Quick answer
Vendor due diligence means checking a supplier before you onboard it, sign with it or pay it. Serus runs the open-source side of that check: start with a company name, domain, contact email or bank details, and see whether the business has a real, consistent footprint, who is behind it, and whether its details turn up in fraud reports.
- Start with
- Company name, Domain, Contact email, Bank details, Key people
- Sources
- Surface, deep and dark web, including specialist OSINT sources
- Part of
- Serus Intelligence
What it finds
- Whether the company has a real, consistent footprint or is a thin shell
- The people behind it and how they connect to the entity
- Payment details or contacts flagged in fraud reports
- Overlapping ownership or contacts across your suppliers you didn't know were linked
- The vendor's externally visible exposure, like leaked credentials tied to its domain
- Whether an invoice's sending domain is a lookalike registered days ago
How it works
- 1
Enter what the vendor gave you
A company name, website, contact email or bank details: whatever is on the invoice or onboarding form.
- 2
Serus checks the footprint
Sources including public records, the surface web, breach databases and dark web datasets, in one pass, each finding linked to its source.
- 3
See how it connects
How the entity, the people behind it and its contacts connect, including links to your other suppliers.
- 4
Approve, dig deeper or stop
Approve legitimate vendors faster and stop fraudulent ones before the first payment. The API runs the same check inside your onboarding flow.
Serus supports your compliance program as one input. It doesn't replace your regulated KYC/AML obligations or a sanctions-screening provider.
Example result
- Searched
- Example Supplies Ltd, examplesupplies.example
- Footprint
- Domain registered 6 years ago, consistent listings
- People
- 2 people linked to the entity
- Payment details
- No fraud reports found
- Exposure
- 4 staff accounts in known breaches
Use cases
All use cases- Onboard a vendor with confidence. Run KYB on a new vendor.
- Diligence a partner or investor. Vet a partner or investor's track record.
- Map supplier & counterparty risk. Map a supplier's risk before signing.
- Run soft diligence on a target. Screen an acquisition target's footprint.
- Vet a reseller or distributor. Vet resellers carrying your brand.
- Support KYC & source-of-funds checks. Support KYC/AML checks with open sources.
Frequently asked
What is vendor due diligence?
Checking that a supplier is real, who is behind it and whether it carries risk, before it gets access to your money or your data. Shell vendors and invoice fraud slip in at the onboarding step.
What does Serus check on a vendor?
The open-source side: the company's footprint, the people and entities behind it, payment details or contacts in fraud reports, and its external security exposure. Financial audits and contract review stay with your team.
Does Serus replace KYC/AML or sanctions screening?
No. It feeds corroborated context into your existing KYC/AML workflow, through the app or the API, as one input alongside your regulated checks.
Can I use Serus to decide whether to hire someone?
No. Employment, tenancy, credit and insurance decisions fall under the FCRA and similar laws and need a compliant, consented consumer-reporting process. Serus is a research tool, not a consumer reporting agency.
Run it with Serus Intelligence
Agentic OSINT across the surface, deep and dark web, with verifiable results.
Use it responsibly: read our acceptable use policy.
