We heard about an extraordinary fraud on Radio 4 yesterday and I wanted to get the word out to warn people.
Apparently fraudsters are registering companies with Companies House at random residential addresses (often multiple houses in the same road). They use the certificate of incorporation as proof of address to apply for loans.
When these loan details get posted to the address with the name of the company, the resident contacts Companies House to get their address removed. This triggers a process whereby Companies House check with the person who set up the company and pass all the resident's details on to the fraudster. So the fraudster then has personal details and proof of address to take out loans in that person's name.
Companies House is purely a register and make no checks. They have not been set up in a way that makes them able to deal with fraud like that. The only way to solve this is through a court order which costs hundreds of pounds.
So if you get any mail about loans addressed to a weird company at your address, call the lender immediately and tell them it is fraudulent.
It's a scary world out there, folks. Be careful and stay safe. |
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I searched my address on companies house after hearing that report. It did come up with someone I’d never heard of having a business registered there several years ago but it was dissolved. The previous owner had owned it for 20+ yrs.
Just as troubling is criminals illegally transferring ownership on the land registry and selling your house out from under you  |
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"Surely they're not allowed to pass on tenent details due to gdpr?"
Maybe it is in conflict with GDPR, I don't know, but that's what their process is. It is to give the business owner the information needed to dispute the change of address. |
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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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"Surely they're not allowed to pass on tenent details due to gdpr?
I don't think fraudsters would worry about gdpr"
I'm sure they don't, but companies house have too is what i was saying |
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