Company identity theft could be the latest fraud trend according to Kent Police.

Fraud officers have been alerted to three crimes of this type in Kent over the last two months and have concerns that it is on the increase.

The fraudsters download documents from the Companies House website that enable them to change a company’s registered address. A form is returned to Companies House, complete with a forged director’s signature, and the company’s address is changed.

Goods are then obtained on credit and delivered to the newly registered company address – usually an empty or multi occupied house. 

And it’s not small companies that are being targeted; big businesses are just as vulnerable.

Detective Inspector Mark Fairhurst of the Kent Police Fraud Squad said: ‘The fraudsters have not been successful in any of the cases that we have investigated but there is evidence that these crimes could become more common. We are keen to alert business owners that this is going on and urge them to be particularly vigilant and on the look out for anything suspicious. Disruption to company mail could be a possible indicator that a business has been a victim of an address change.’ 

Companies that are concerned can check their registered details with Companies House. In the light of this development companies are also being urged to enrol with the Companies House monitoring system, which initiates an alert that there has been an address change.