Companies House urges secure online filing
Corporate identity theft on the rise
Companies House is advising firms to transact with it electronically to increase security and combat a rise in corporate identity theft.
Businesses have recently been targeted by fraudsters submitting bogus change of address requests to steal a company’s identity and obtain goods on credit and set up fake bank accounts.
Companies House uses a protected online filing (Proof) scheme that uses passwords, confidential authentication codes and recognised email addresses, and wants more firms to sign up.
‘Most companies are not filing electronically,’ said Companies House spokesman Paul Reynolds.
Reynolds estimates that of the 50,000 paper documents Companies House receives each month, 50 are potentially fraudulent. Of the 2.3 million registered companies in the UK, only 64,000 have signed up to Proof.
‘After they have registered, firms may not transact with us for years and are not aware they need to protect their information in the interim,’ he said.
The most recent scam involved thieves trying to obtain authentication codes by more traditional means, such as the phone.
‘It is the same basis as phishing scams involving people’s banks details,’ said Matthew Knowles, spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses.
‘But Companies House has told businesses that no one will ever call them asking for an authentication code.’
Andy Jones, security expert at the Information Security Forum, says fraudsters’ recent tactics have been low-tech.
‘They transfer tried and trusted low-tech scams into the high-tech world, where the risk is low and the rewards high,’ he said.
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