How can I tell if a company is incorporated in California (LA County)?

Question

I ordered a product from a company that states "Inc." in its name, however, I'm not sure how to find out if it really is incorporated.

Answer 1

Contact the California Secretary of State's office, division of Corporations. They will have a list of all incorporated companies and can verify if yours is incorporated.

Keep in mind two things:

1) If they are NOT legit, they might lie about their address and use a real incorporated company's info.

2) Incorporation doesn't imply legitimacy. It means they're properly registered to do business in that state as a corporation but they can still be running a scam (or at least something that isn't what they promise to be). Incorporation isn't a seal of approval or anything, just approval to do business under that name.