Guidance: Reporting Scams

What to do if you think you’ve spotted a scam pretending to be from Companies House, and examples of scam emails, letters and telephone calls.

Many people are wanting to make charitable donations to support the people affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator has issued guidance for people looking to donate to make sure the donations reach their intended causes.

There are separate procedures if you want to:

• complain about a limited company
• protect your company from fraud and scams
• report a company using your personal details without your permission

Scam telephone calls

Late filing penalty payment

Companies have been contacted asking for payment of a late filing penalty over the telephone. The caller says they’ll accept a payment of £5 by credit or debit to place a hold on any further action being taken.

We will not contact you for immediate payment of a late filing penalty or request payment of a nominal fee to place a hold on any recovery action.

Payment plans are set up with the agreement of the manager dealing with your late filing penalty query. We will not cold call you to take a payment.

Asking for your authentication code

We’ll never ask you what your authentication code is over the phone.

If anyone calls you claiming to be from Companies House asking for your authentication code – try to get a return telephone number and contact us immediately on 0303 1234 500.

Asking for directors’ details

Companies have been telephoned by people claiming to be from Companies House, who request details of their company’s directors.

After being advised there’s a discrepancy with the information held on the register, the caller requests information such as full dates of birth for directors.

We’ll never contact you by telephone to find out who your officers are, or ask for secure information.

If anyone calls you claiming to be from Companies House asking for this information – try to get a return telephone number and contact us immediately on 0303 1234 500.

Scam emails

We’re aware of suspicious emails being sent that claim to be from Companies House.

Some emails might have an attachment, such as a Word document, and may ask you to enter an authorisation code. These emails have not been generated by us.

If you receive a suspicious email, you should report it to us immediately at phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk.

Do not disclose any personal information or open any attachments. Companies House will never ask for your authentication code.

 Scam emails about online identification

These emails claim to be from Companies House and ask you to complete online identification.

Do not reply to the emails, or open any attachments or click on any links. Delete the emails from your inbox, including your deleted items.

Scam email about a company complaint

There is currently a scam email circulating impersonating Companies House.

Do not click on any links, reply to the email or open any attachments. Please delete the email from all mailboxes including your deleted items.

Scam email request to avoid legal action

We’ve had reports of suspicious emails claiming to be from Companies House and asking customers to make a correction.

These emails are a scam – do not reply to them, open any attachments or click on any links. Please delete the email from your inbox.

Scam email request to use an a-Sign platform to download documents

Some people have reported receiving phishing emails in the form of a request to download documents about the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill second reading.

The email address may be clearly fraudulent, but even if the email seems to be from Companies House, customers should be aware that the email is not from Companies House.

If you’ve received one of these emails forward it to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk and then delete it.

Do not try to view any attachments contained in the email.

Phishing scam with subject line ‘Hundreds of phone calls and emails have been sent in the name of your company’

This scam email claims that hundreds of phonecalls and emails have been sent in your company name. It also asks customers to click a link to see what type of information has been sent. These emails are not from us.

If you’ve received one of these emails forward it to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk and delete it from all mailboxes, including your deleted items.

Do not click any links or buttons or enter any details.

Phishing scam asking to verify your identity

Some customers have received emails from “noreply@companieshousel.ink” asking to ‘Verify your identity by Friday, Feb 8”. These emails claim to be from Companies House and HMRC.

If you receive any emails from this sender, forward them to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk as soon as possible.

Delete the email from your mailbox and do not disclose any personal information or click any links.

Scam company complaints emails

Investigations and Enforcement Services emails

Since 2016, we’ve seen emails claiming to be from the ‘Investigations and Enforcement Services at Companies House’. The email says it’s automatically generated in response to a complaint about a company.

Customers are asked to view an attached document. This document has been shown to contain malware – do not open this attachment.

Some of these emails have contained the following domains which we do not use:

• @arccoz.com
• @companies-house-gov.uk
• @cpgov.uk
• @companieshouse.me.uk
• @companies-house.me.uk
• @companieshousecomplaint.co.uk
• @companieshousecomplaints.co.uk
• @companieshouseemail.co.uk
• @companieshouseemail.uk
• @companieshouses.com
• @companiesshouse.com
• @companiesshouse.co.uk
• @companieshouses.co.uk
• @companieshousesecure.co.uk
• @cp-securemessage.co.uk
• @ebilling-companieshouse-gov.uk
• @companieshousel.ink

If you’ve received one of these emails forward it to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk and then delete it.

Do not click any links or try to view any attachments contained in the email.

Scam request to download a copy of an application

These emails appear to come from a valid Companies House email address but do not.

If you’ve received one of these emails forward it to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk and then delete it from your mailbox, including your deleted items.

Do not click any links, download any attachments, enter any data or reply to this email.

Scam ‘Document Order’ emails

These emails appear to come from a valid Companies House email address but do not.

You’ll only get a document order email if you’ve requested a copy of current company information using our online filing service.

Genuine document order emails contain your company name and number under the ‘Order detail’ heading, and a reference to the attached PDF of company information.

The scam emails do not contain this individual company information, and the attachment is not in a PDF format. Do not open the attachment.

If you’ve received one of these emails forward it to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk and then delete it.

Do not try to view any attachments contained in the email.

Scam online filing submission emails

This scam email claims to be a response to an online filing submission.

We’re also aware that some customers have been sent emails with the following:

Thank you for completing a submission Reference # (0516538). Check attachment to confirm acceptance or rejection of this filing.

Do not open an attachment to check information.

In any emails from us, we’ll tell you within the body of the email whether your submission has been accepted or rejected.

If you’ve received one of these fake emails, forward it to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk and then delete it.

Do not try to view any attachments contained in the email.

Scam eReminder requests for accounts

Some people have reported receiving phishing emails in the form of an email reminder to submit accounts.

The examples we’ve been shown have an incorrect due date on them. This is your first indication it might be a scam.

The phishing emails also say ‘Please find information in the following link regarding your Company’s annual accounts.’

Do not click this link, as it transfers you to ‘118enquiries.com’ and downloads a zip-file onto your device.

If you’ve received one of these emails forward it to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk and then delete it.

Do not try to view any attachments contained in the email.

Scam requests to verify your Companies House password

We’ve had reports of people receiving email requests to validate their Companies House email address and password.

If you’re not expecting to receive an email to reset your password it may be a scam. Forward it to phishing@companieshouse.gov.uk and then delete it.

The email contains a link to a web page that requests the entry of your email address and password.

Always check that the URL (the website address) you’re about to visit is a genuine Companies House or GOV.UK address.

ExampleA request for a password reset for our online filing service will have an address that starts: ewf.companieshouse.gov.uk

If the link doesn’t contain ‘.gov.uk’ within the address – it’s not a Companies House page and could be a scam.

Do not enter any details or click any links or buttons. The web page is not linked to our services and could send your details to the scammers.

Scam letters

Letter about ‘payment code’

This is a scam letter asking for payment. Do not visit any webpage or QR code links, and do not make any payments to the details shown.

Letter from ‘Company Registry’ asking for payment

We’re aware of a scam letter from a sender called Company Registry asking for payment to confirm company details and activate a secure vault.

This is a scam – do not send any money to the bank account shown.

If you receive a suspicious letter, contact us immediately on 0303 1234 500. Never pay any money to the sender.

Letters from prosecuting solicitors asking for payment

We’re aware of a scam letter that appears to be from Companies House prosecuting solicitors.

It asks for payment into a bank account to clear an outstanding invoice for ‘prior penalty negotiations’. We do not issue these letters.

If you receive a suspicious letter, contact us immediately on 0303 1234 500. Never pay any money into the bank account shown.

Scam invoice asking for payment for company registration

We’ve had reports of the following invoice claiming to be from Companies House.

It asks for payment of a balance shown in dollars, and is addressed from ‘Government Digital Service, Caroline Street, Birmingham’. These invoices are not from Companies House.

If you receive a suspicious invoice, contact us immediately on 0303 1234 500. Never pay any money to the sender.

Suspicious job vacancies

We’re receiving email enquiries about job adverts in the UK.

These adverts generally offer highly paid vacancies or opportunities in the oil, hotel or banking industries. The job adverts are often placed in print or on websites to appear genuine.

Treat all job offers with extreme caution. The contact details are usually fake, and you should avoid replying to the providers of these vacancies.

The advert might request money up front before the application can be processed, and they might also mention UK visas. Be sure to check with UK Visas and Immigration for information on applying for a UK visa.

You can search for genuine job vacancies at Companies House on the civil service jobs website.

Pension liberation scams

Pension scams are on the increase in the UK and under some schemes individuals have had limited companies set up in their name.

If you believe you’ve had a company set up in your name, seek legal advice before taking any action to close it.

Scams are promoted using terms such as an offer of unique investment opportunities, free pension review, legal loophole, cash bonus or as a government endorsed scheme and victims are being approached through cold calling, text message or in person door to door.

You should treat all approaches about your pension with caution if it is not from a source you recognise and trust.

If you’re approached, do not share your personal information or sign any paperwork.

The Money and Pensions Service can help you check if the offer of service is genuine.

The Pensions Regulator offers guidance to help individuals who think that they may have been targeted by pension scams.

Company register payment requests

Companies registered at Companies House are receiving notifications asking for money to maintain their company on a register.

The companies concerned are receiving what looks like a genuine request from one of the following:

• New Companies Register
• Digital Companies Register
• National Register of Companies
• Economic Index for Europe
• Register of Companies and Businesses
• Scottish Commercial Register (publication of companies)
• Welsh Commercial Register
• e-public.co.uk Company Register
• regist.co.uk

These organisations are not connected to, or endorsed by, either Companies House or GOV.UK and the fee requested is not required to keep the company registered at Companies House.

Source: Reporting scams pretending to be from Companies House – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Published 23 December 2020