Police tackle Companies House database scam
By OUT-LAW.COM
Published Thursday 12th May 2005 11:31 GMT
The Metropolitan Police Service has launched a campaign to highlight
the growing problem of "company hijacking" – where criminals
fraudulently change a company’s official registration details with
Companies House in order that they may impersonate it.
The fraudsters can then use and abuse the targeted firm’s credit
rating, leaving the victim struggling to clean up its record.
Suppliers are also left out of pocket when they think they are
delivering high-value orders to a legitimate address and their
subsequent invoices go unpaid.
The loss to industry through this type of fraud is estimated to be in
excess of £50m per year, according to the Met.
The police service has therefore teamed up with Companies House, the
agency responsible for the registration of companies, to highlight
the issue, sometimes known as a Form 287 scam. In a campaign leaflet
it sets out four simple steps that can be used to counter the fraud:
Companies should check with Companies House to ensure that their
registered details – directors, company secretary and company address
– are currently accurate.
Companies should file their documents on-line, and sign up for
"PROOF", a Companies House initiative that runs a free, password
protected on-line system for companies to alter their details on the
register. The system will reject any amendments that are on paper or
do not have the appropriate password.
Companies should sign up to the Companies House alert system, which
will warn of any changes to company details.
Companies should not rely on Companies House records alone in
determining whether to lend goods or services on credit, as Companies
House is merely a public record and not a credit reference agency.
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