Companies House has updated their guidance on how to recognise and report the various types of scam that business owners are having to contend with.

This post will look at some examples, but we’d strongly recommend that Directors familiarise themselves with the many that are listed here.

Scam telephone calls

1 Late filing penalty payment

Companies have been contacted and asked for payment of late filing penalties, and have been asked for a £5 payment to suspend further action.

Companies House will NOT contact Directors for immediate payment or request payment to stay any recovery action.

2 Asking for your Authentication Code

This is a key piece of sensitive information for your company, and one that you should be incredibly careful about divulging.

Companies House will never ask for it over the phone.

3 Asking for Directors details

After being told of a discrepancy in the information held on the register, Directors are asked to confirm full dates of birth or other sensitive information.

This one has arisen more frequently since the recent enhancement of Companies House powers, so is one to be particularly wary of.

Companies House advises anyone receiving calls similar to any of the above to try to get a return telephone number and contact them immediately on 0303 1234 500.

Scam emails and letters

Emails purporting to be from Companies House may have an attachment, and may ask for an authentication code. These will not have been sent by Companies House, who recommend recipients don’t open attachments and that the suspicious emails be send to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk.

Companies House will never ask for an Authentication Code.

There are many, many other variations, which include the following:

• Enquiries about your Companies House Webfiling Account.
• Asking you to complete online identification.
• Informing you of a complaint against the Company.
• Asking you to make a correction to the records held.
• You do not have to pay a fee to register your company once it has been incorporated. There are invoices being sent by post that suggest otherwise. 
• You do not have to pay a fee to maintain your company on the Register; there are many companies that are writing to Directors asking for such payment which should be ignored.

The key points….

The key points to remember are as follows:

• Company’s House will not ask you for sensitive information, including your Authentication Code.
• They will not call to ask for an immediate payment.
• They will not include any links in any emails they may send, nor will they send attachments.
• Do not click links in any emails you may receive that purport to be from Companies House.
• If you receive any unexpected emails to rest your Companies House account details, it’s likely to be a scam, and should be both ignored and deleted.
• You should report any phishing emails to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk.

If you’re unsure of the authenticity of any communications you receive from Companies House, please ask us, or call the enquiry line on 0303 1234 500.