image source, BBC/Natalie Bell
Des Anastasiou worries that scammers will use his business to gain credibility.
- author, Natalie Bell
- role, bbc news
The owner of a chip shop in Lincoln is worried he will lose money after a fraudster cloned his business's name.
Des Anastasiou, who runs Barton Road Chippy, said he was alarmed when he started receiving letters addressed to businesses with similar names.
Restaurants run by some of Britain's most famous chefs, including Heston Blumenthal, have been cloned as part of a new identity theft scam in recent weeks.
Companies House, which registers UK limited companies, said it was investigating.
“Is it fake?”
Mr Anastasio's business was registered as Burton Road Chippy Limited in 2014.
However, on January 26 this year, Barton Road Chippy Restaurant Limited was registered at Mr Anastasiou's business address with the name of a woman from Leeds as a director.
Mr Anastasiou's potato chip shop has since received letters from banks and Revenue and Customs authorities, including Monzo, the BBC has confirmed.
“I was worried. I'm still worried. What are they going to do? My hands are shaking,” Anastasiou said.
“Company House should be inspected more. Isn't it a fake?”
“Maybe I can open a bank account…I also got some letters from banks.”
image source, BBC/Natalie Bell
Café Zoot's Bijan Keshmiri fears his property will be blacklisted
Several other businesses in Lincoln also spoke to the BBC about the scam, including Cafe Zoot.
“This shop has been sitting here for 20 years,” said landlord Bijan Keshmiri.
“I'm scared of what these people will do. There's no electricity in the company housing.
“My biggest fear is that the supplier may now have second thoughts about whether they are the right person for us.
“I don't want my property to be blacklisted,” Keshmiri said.
The BBC has obtained the first detailed data from fraud expert Graham Barrow that sheds light on the scam, which is causing huge headaches for individuals and businesses.
He said Companies House, the UK's central company registrar, was “not fit for purpose” and further inspections needed to be carried out.
For a nominal fee, scammers can register your company with Companies House online, usually within 24 hours.
Fraud experts say they are then able to steal overdraft funds from bank accounts opened in the name of the cloned fake company and order large-ticket items.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Enterprise said: “We are investigating these incidents and cannot comment further at this time.”
“From March, we will have stronger powers to query and remove fraudulent information from company registers.
“In the longer term, we plan to require company directors and people submitting information to undergo background checks to ensure they are who they claim to be.”
