WE NEED ACTION TO STOP SCAMS NOW

IF Companies House verified the information it received from those wishing to set up a business, it would go a long way to cracking down on fraud.

Readers’ Champion Tony Hetherington believes that anyone who registers a company should be required to provide their National Insurance number. Companies House could then use this to check with Revenue & Customs that they are who they say they are. ‘It would also stop fraudsters registering company directors who are dead or emigrated years ago, as happens today,’ he says.

James Jones, at credit reference agency Experian, says anyone worried that their personal information may have been used to commit a fraud can contact fraud prevention service Cifas to ask for a warning flag to be added to their credit file – held by the main credit reference agencies. He adds: ‘A warning flag can delay a genuine application for credit, but it may be worthwhile if it prevents someone fraudulently taking out a loan in your name.’

Companies House offers a free service, PROOF, that allows directors to protect their firm from unauthorised changes to its records. Go to gov.uk/guidance/protect-your-company-from-corporate-identity-theft.