With so many aspects to keep on top of in the day-to-day running of your company, the life of a business owner can be busy and stressful. There is so much to remember regarding your clients, stock, finances and filing dates, that when a communication arrives from Companies House, claiming you missed a deadline or owe them money, you may be led to believe something has slipped past you.
However, these communications may not always be what they seem, and may in fact be a scammer trying to exploit hard-working business owners for their own ill-gotten gains. In this blog, we will give you tips on how to spot potential fraudsters, so you know how to keep yourself and your business safe from these harmful scams.
Letters
When you register your company with Companies House, you provide two public addresses connected to your company: the registered office address and the director’s service address. This allows scammers to know the name of your company and company officers, and where to post correspondence to in relation to them. Whilst Companies House does occasionally send out post, such as post you have requested like a company authentication code reminder, or filing deadlines that have been missed, they tend to keep communications to a minimum.
Scam letters claiming to be from Companies House usually ask the recipient for some form of payment. A new scam from January 2024, asks you to make a payment regarding Enhanced Web Filing Access. Older scams, which are still in use, claim to be from Company Registry asking you to pay to activate secure vault services.
These urge you to make a payment, so if you receive any letter of this nature, be sure to:
- Check the letter for spelling errors, this is usually a dead giveaway it is a scam.
- Check any fine print that makes you question the legitimacy of the letter.
- Never follow any links or QR codes included in these letters.
Emails
Most email scams ask you to either follow a link provided, to confirm your identity and password or authentication code. These emails can contain harmful viruses or use your details to access sensitive company information. If you receive an email, you suspect may not be legitimate, be sure to:
- Always check the email address the email came from, as this is usually not an official Companies House email address.
- Never follow links if you are unsure of the legitimacy of the email.
- Not let urgent or frightening language trick you into clicking on something that seems like it may be a scam.
Also Read: Avoiding HMRC Scams
Telephone calls
Although scam telephone calls occur less often than scam letters and emails, they do still happen. Most telephone scams claiming to be from Companies House are used in the hopes of getting your personal details, which they can then use to gain access to your online filings, or taking a small down payment from you as a hold for a larger payment they claim you owe. If you receive a call claiming to be from Companies House, never:
- Give out your company authentication code – Companies House will never ask you for this as they do not require it.
- Give out your personal details over the phone, such as your date of birth or account passwords.
- Give out any card details over the phone – even if they try and frighten you into making the payment there and then.
- Trust that the phone number called from is genuine. Even if it matches the phone number listed for Companies House, numbers can be cloned. Be sure to hang up and phone the number listed on the Companies House website to be sure you are not being called from a cloned number.
In all the above cases, if you are not sure of their legitimacy, always be cautious and report anything suspicious directly to Companies House, as this way they can alert others to new scams and investigate the one you have been the target of. Be sure to take your time and do not make any rash decisions based on fear. You can view your company profile on Companies House and call them directly to confirm if there are any outstanding filings or balances.
Also Read: Update: Companies House Reforms
As a small business owner, you work hard for your money, so do not make it easy for scammers to take what you have earned through honest work and determination. For a more detailed description of all the Companies House scams, click here.
