Reporting scams pretending to be from Companies House
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.From:Companies House Published23 December 2020Last updated7 December 2022 — See all updatesGet emails about this page
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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.
Do not disclose any personal information or open any attachments. Companies House will never ask for your authentication code.
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.
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 – Notice #’
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.
The email is sent from: “complaints@companies-house-gov.uk” or “noreply@cpgov.uk” with the following message:
This message has been generated in response to the company complaint submitted to Companies House WebFiling service.
(CC01) Company Complaint for the company was accepted on 25/06/2018.
The submission number is 5GBV2LXEK5ULLKW
Please quote this number in any communications with Companies House.
View WebFiled document
All WebFiled documents are available to view / download for 10 days after their original submission.
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:
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.
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
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.
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 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.
Mr. Watchlist 
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