More than 200,000 British businesses have already fallen victim to identity theft and thousands more could be at risk, according to a survey of 200 SMEs carried out on behalf of Close Invoice Finance, part of the Close Brothers merchant banking group.

The findings appear to show that organised criminals are now turning their attention from the well-documented personal identity theft to the corporate market, with small and medium sized businesses top of their hit list. The statistics indicate that at least five per cent of SMEs have been already been targeted by identity fraudsters, while separate figures from the Metropolitan Police indicate the financial damage to British businesses could be in excess of £50 million a year.

A typical scenario could see fraudsters changing the registered address and the company secretary or director of a business at Companies House. The criminals could then appoint new directors, using them to open bank accounts and arrange to have goods delivered to a new address, effectively ruining the credit rating of the business and leaving it with significant charges to clear.

The authors see small and medium sized businesses as especially vulnerable because they lack the manpower and systems to adequately protect themselves, so their experts have put together the following advice to help SME’s safeguard confidential information:

Regularly check that your records at Companies House are correct.
File your accounts electronically, using the protected online filing service PROOF.
Subscribe to Companies House ‘Monitor’, an email alert that gives warning when any changes to company details are made.
Don’t rely solely on Companies House records, research new suppliers or customers before issuing goods on credit

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