Current frauds involving Companies House and HMRC

Companies House is undergoing numerous changes as part of their reform under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. With any change, there’s potential for uncertainty and fraudsters are quick to try and take advantage.

Scammers are targeting business owners with letters, apparently from Companies House, requesting £48 to access enhanced web filing services. Given the price changes in Companies House recently, it may seem perfectly plausible that this is a service now being offered, at a price aligned with other filing fees, especially as the letter includes the Companies House logo and Cardiff address at the top.

This however is a fraud. Companies House have issued a warning on this and have confirmed they do not charge a fee to set up a web filing account.

Please do remain vigilant to scammers and report any concerns to Companies House: Reporting scams pretending to be from Companies House – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

A fraud warning has recently been issued to iPhone users. The scammer sends a message to an Apple device claiming the recipient is owed a tax refund.

HMRC figures show 79,000 fake tax refund scams were reported in the 12 months to January, which is up on the 58,000 in the previous year. So, if you are not impacted by the iPhone message scam, sadly there is a good chance you may come across one of the other scams out there at some point!

HMRC has warned of the various methods used by scammers, including: QR codes; text messages; emails; phone calls; whatsapp messages; and even via social platforms. If you do receive such a message, please do not click on any links, always take your time, do not be rushed and do not provide any payment information. If in doubt seek confirmation by contacting HMRC, using a contact method you have personally identified and not via any method in the message.

Please note HMRC will never call and ask you to urgently transfer money or provide personal information, so any such call will be from a fraudster.

Check out HMRC phishing and scams: detailed information – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for more details on how to spot a scam, how to report an issue and for more information about staying safe online.

If you have any doubt regarding any message received from Companies House or HMRC or any other party, please do speak to your regular Ensors contact.