Scammers hijack company identities

A loophole in the system for registering company details is allowing scammers to hijack organisations' identities and fraudulently obtain goods and services.

The '287 scam', named after the change of address form used by Companies House, was flagged up by credit-card fraud prevention specialist Early Warning after several of its clients fell foul of the ploy.

Anyone can search the Companies House online database for a registered company number and address. With this information, they can manually submit form 287 to request the address is changed to an anonymous mailbox of their own. They can also amend names of company directors using a similar method.

Companies House automatically makes the requested changes without any form of validation and fraudsters can then use the company's identity to obtain goods on credit and even set up new bank accounts.

Andrew Goodwill, managing director of Early Warning, said: 'It's scary, because you will only find out you?ve been hit when the debt collectors knock on your door demanding payment for the 15,000 laptops that have been ordered in your name.'

He says he is aware of several companies whose identities had been hijacked in recent weeks. 'They want to remain anonymous, but all are small, well-established organisations - a flooring company and an antiques dealer in London, plus a property management firm in Kent,' he said.

Companies House is aware of the problem but its web site notes it cannot prevent this kind of fraud. 'Companies House...does not have the power to investigate the contents and accuracy of forms sent to it for filing,' it states.

But last month it introduced a new password-protected online filing system, known as Proof. Once companies sign up for this, Companies House will no longer accept paper forms from them, and any fraudster would need to know a company?s password before making changes to their details.

But the onus remains on companies to sign up for the online scheme, and few are yet aware of the scam.

Goodwill said: 'Once we'd found it had happened three times in very quick succession we wanted to make sure everybody knew about it.'

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