Banking Confirmation on Every PI: New Standard Procedure
Bank details are only valid if printed on your signed PI, confirmed by a 30-second video of the account book and company chop, and reconfirmed on a recorded WhatsApp call to +86 199 0592 2526. If the bank account number changes for any reason after that, the order is void until it is reconfirmed the same way. This is now standard procedure on every PI Apex Home Export issues, no exceptions for repeat buyers.
Why this concern is real
Buyers in Lagos, Accra, Mombasa, Baghdad and Manila have lost deposits to bank-account-change fraud, where a hacked email thread or a fake WhatsApp number sends a "corrected" account number right before a wire transfer. Because Apex ships to Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Iraq, Egypt and the Philippines, our buyers wire in different currencies through different correspondent banks, and that gap is exactly where fraudsters insert themselves. A single missed deposit on a container of used twin tub washing machines at $48-68 a unit adds up fast, and freight from Lagos alone runs $3,000-4,000 per container, so a wrong wire is not a small loss.
How it actually works
The scam usually starts after a genuine PI has already been sent. A third party monitoring the email or a cloned WhatsApp account then sends a message saying "our bank changed, please use this new account for the 30% deposit." Buyers who are used to sending 30% deposit and 70% against BL copy after loading video don't always double-check because the request looks routine. The new account is rarely linked to the factory at all, it is a personal or shell account opened just for that transfer. Once the deposit lands, the account is closed and the number is unreachable. This has happened across all our markets, not just one country, which is why the fix has to apply to every PI, every time, regardless of how long you've worked with the supplier.
How we handle it at Apex Home Export
Bank details are only ever valid when they appear on a signed PI tied to a corporate account matching the contract entity, meaning the name on the bank account must match the company name on your contract, no personal accounts, no third-party accounts, ever. Before any deposit is sent, we record a 30-second video showing the physical account book pages together with the company chop in the same frame, so you can see the account number and the seal side by side, not two separate screenshots that could be swapped. That video is followed by a recorded WhatsApp call to +86 199 0592 2526 where we verbally confirm the account number, the amount, and the PI number out loud. If bank details change for any reason mid-order, including a supposed internal bank switch, the order is automatically voided until it goes through the same two-step confirmation again. This applies whether you're buying from any of our 184 factories, whether the units passed our 27-point bench test as Grade A (under 3 years, 90-day warranty), Grade B (under 5 years, 30-day warranty), or Grade C sold tested as-is. The 30% deposit and 70% against BL copy structure stays the same, but the deposit only goes out after the video and call are done, not before.
What you should do before you pay
- Confirm the bank account name matches the exact contract entity on your signed PI, not a similar-sounding name
- Request the 30-second video of the account book and company chop together in one frame before wiring anything
- Do a recorded WhatsApp call to verbally confirm the account number and PI number before sending funds
- Treat any mid-order message claiming a bank change as void until reconfirmed the same way, even if it comes from a known number
- Keep your SGS or Bureau Veritas inspection booked separately, since inspection and payment are two different checks and neither replaces the other
A changed bank account with no video and no recorded call is a stop sign, not a formality to skip because you're in a hurry to load. If any bank detail on your PI looks different from before, message us directly on WhatsApp at https://wa.me/8619905922526 and we'll walk through the video and call again before you send a single dollar.