Companies House and the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) are asking businesses to take special care of misleading requests for payment sent by fraudulent organisations.
Invoices are being sent to companies that request payment for Companies House and IPO services. They may be posted to a company’s registered office address or sent by email.
The invoices request payment for services at inflated prices that are available for a much lower fee, or even free of charge, directly from legitimate sources.
Payments are often requested for things like:
- Setting up or claiming the company’s Companies House online account.
- Authenticating the company’s Companies House account or verifying details.
- Renewing a trade mark or including it on an ‘exclusive online register’.
Companies House and the IPO are advising companies that where they are not sure if a request for payment is genuine, they can:
- Check any website and email addresses in the letter or email to see whether they are provided through GOV.UK.
- Look for disclaimers stating the organisation is not affiliated with government.
- Contact Companies House or the IPO directly to verify any requests.
Contact details for Companies House and the IPO can be found here.
Directors are being warned to verify their identities with Companies House or risk prosecution after the Insolvency Service secured its first convictions for these offences.
Members of the Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) are due to get letters from HMRC where errors have been identified in their monthly returns. The letters, due in October, are in response to three common errors identified by HMRC.