One way to combat fraud online is to know who you are dealing with. In the United States and most other countries, in order for an individual or individuals to conduct business under any other name than their own, they must register that name with the appropriate governmental agency in some way such as filing a DBA (Doing Business As), Assumed Name Certificate, Certificate of Incorporation, or a Registered Trademark. This is considered the document legally authorizing someone to conduct business using their "mark" or "alias" rather than their own name. In most cases it is required by law and will be required on all PetHobbyist sites as well in the near future. The list below contains links to a number of agencies that will allow you to search this documentation, to determine the ownership of a business, or to determine whether a business exists at all. This page has been in use for some time by our own account review staff for investigating suspicious businesses, and we are glad to make this available to our users
