One auditor a month becomes victim of identity theft
Fraudsters set up false details at Companies House by stealing auditors' identities
At least one auditor a month is having their identity stolen, enabling
fraudsters to set up false details at Companies House, according to figures
provided to Accountancy Age.
Calculations by credit ratings agency Graydon revealed nine auditors have had
their details appropriated to legitimise a false set of accounts over the last
nine months. Another 100 sets of accounts have been set up using completely
fictitious auditor details over the same period.
South-east London was the most prevalent area for both types of fraud to be
committed.
The revelation is another sign of the problems that accounting professionals
face in dealing with information being stolen to set up false companies. Just
two weeks ago ICAEW head of business law Felicity Banks said that a Big Four
partner’s details had been illegitimately used to provide director’s details in
a set of false accounts.
Companies House said it could monitor online changes to company details, but
there were no plans to monitor audit firms‘ information.
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