I was just contacted by a new client whose grammar gave them away as foreign-based in the very first paragraph.  However, the (Americanized?) name, company name (LLC), address and phone numbers are all U.S. homegrown.  Looking up the company in that state's business entity directory, THERE IS NO INDICATION WHATSOEVER THAT IT IS A FOREIGN COMPANY.

So, how can we protect against this kind of fraud if even the government-run websites don't have a clue?  Any ideas?

Let me say here that I DO work with foreign-based companies that have proven themselves reliable and responsible.  But they were all upfront from the beginning and did not try to tell me they were made in the USA.  It's the misdirection that turns me right off.  It is our choice to work with foreign-based companies if we so choose, but we need to have some way of determining when that is the case.