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Spam email purporting to come from Companies House

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    Spam email purporting to come from Companies House

    My accountant has just advised the following:

    It seems that some random emails are circulating claiming to be from Companies House with a zipfile attachment.



    Companies House have issued a warning stating that the emails are not being sent by them and advising strongly that the attachment is not opened.



    They have also stated that the details they hold have not been compromised.



    Another one to be careful of!

    #2
    Can you tell us what the email says?

    I haven't come across this for any of our clients yet but it would be useful to know the content of the email as I'm sure it will come up!

    Comment


      #3
      I get these relatively frequently, some pretending to be from banks, HMRC, and Companies House. In fact, I do need to talk to my email host about these.

      I can't remember the content, but normally it's something about a tax bill that needs to be paid, or returns due to Companies House or whatever.

      Yes, they contain a .zip file, but the real giveaway is that the .zip file contains a .exe file. I don't have any other info about the content I'm afraid.

      Comment


        #4
        Also Chinese scams relating to some Chinese company purporting to use your domain name in China. The scammers try to frighten you into registering your domain (using them of course) in China.

        The new pop-up registration companies only last a few weeks before shutting down and starting again.

        As usual, ignore.
        "I can put any old tat in my sig, put quotes around it and attribute to someone of whom I've heard, to make it sound true."
        - Voltaire/Benjamin Franklin/Anne Frank...

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by GillsMan View Post
          I get these relatively frequently, some pretending to be from banks, HMRC, and Companies House. In fact, I do need to talk to my email host about these.

          I can't remember the content, but normally it's something about a tax bill that needs to be paid, or returns due to Companies House or whatever.

          Yes, they contain a .zip file, but the real giveaway is that the .zip file contains a .exe file. I don't have any other info about the content I'm afraid.
          No problem, thanks.

          Our clients only really receive spam emails from people pretending to be HMRC, which is usually just to obtain bank details - I am curious as to what information these people are trying to obtain by pretending to be Companies House.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by cojak View Post
            Also Chinese scams relating to some Chinese company purporting to use your domain name in China. The scammers try to frighten you into registering your domain (using them of course) in China.
            Ah yes, a client of ours did receive an email from 'Mr. Yang' at 'The Department of Asian Domain Registration Service in China' just recently..

            Comment


              #7
              A client of mine had one of those yesterday, with a zip file attached:

              Subject: FW: Case

              This message has been generated in response to the company complaint
              submitted to Companies House WebFiling service.

              (CC01) Company Complaint for the above company was accepted on 03/09/2013.

              The submission number is

              Please quote this number in any communications with Companies House.

              All WebFiled documents are available to view / download for 10 days after
              their original submission. However it is not possible to view copies of
              accounts that were downloaded as templates.

              Not yet filing your accounts online? See how easy it is...

              Note: reference to company may also include Limited Liability
              Partnership(s).

              Thank you for using the Companies House WebFiling service.

              Service Desk tel +44 (0)303 1234 500 or email
              [email protected]

              Note: This email was sent from a notification-only email address which
              cannot accept incoming email. Please do not reply directly to this message.


              The Companies House website actually has a warning up too:

              03/09/13 @12:00PM: Scam Alert - We have been made aware that random e-mails claiming to be from Companies House
              with a zipfile mail attachment are being sent. These mails have not been generated by Companies House and we strongly advise you not to
              open the attachment. Our customers should be assured that the details we hold have not been compromised.
              ContractorUK Best Forum Adviser 2013

              Comment


                #8
                I received one of these today, as above.

                I've received similar e-mails in recent weeks purporting to be from banks, all with zip files attached.

                Comment


                  #9
                  So have I, except my ISP (the excellent Andrews and Arnold) have automagcially replaced the .zip with a warning message. All such mails get deleted.
                  Blog? What blog...?

                  Comment


                    #10
                    <bump>

                    Just had another one of these:

                    FW: Case - 2816095

                    A company complaint was submitted to Companies House website.

                    The submission number is 2816095

                    For more details please click : <spoofed URL>https://companieshouse.gov.uk/Case?=2816095</spoofed URL>

                    Please quote this number in any communications with Companies House.

                    All Web Filed documents are available to view / download for 10 days after their
                    original submission. However it is not possible to view copies of accounts that
                    were downloaded as templates.

                    Companies House Executive Agency may use information it holds to prevent
                    and detect fraud. We may also share such information, for the same purpose,
                    with other organisations that handle public funds.

                    If you have any queries please contact the Companies House Contact Centre
                    on +44 (0)303 1234 500 or email [email protected]


                    Note: This email was sent from a notification-only email address which cannot
                    accept incoming email. Please do not reply directly to this message.

                    Companies House
                    4 Abbey Orchard Street
                    Westminster
                    London
                    SW1P 2HT
                    Tel +44 (0)303 1234 500
                    Phone number and email address are valid, but the links go to mypafamilylawyer<dot>com
                    Originally posted by MaryPoppins
                    I hadn't really understood this 'pwned' expression until I read DirtyDog's post.

                    Comment

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