Blumenthal, whose own business has been targeted by scammers, is writing to Louise Smyth, chief executive at Companies House and registrar for England and Wales, asking for greater transparency on how her organisation is tackling the issue.
“Our legal team has been scanning the Companies Register for years and has regularly needed to notify Companies House of bogus companies claiming to be to be part of our group,” says Blumenthal.
“The process for removing fake companies has to be speeded up and made easier. We need greater transparency from Companies House and a clear timeline.”
Last week a BBC investigation revealed that several high-profile restaurateurs including Blumenthal have been targeted as part of an emerging identity theft scam that sees fraudsters register fake business in order to apply for bank accounts and loans.
In Blumenthal’s case, a company has been registered with the name ‘Dinner by Heston Blumenthall’ with an extra ‘l’.
Scammers can pay to register a business online with Companies House, after which they can ‘clone’ restaurants with similar names to a real business. They are then able to steal overdraft money from bank accounts set up in the name of the fake company they have cloned, and order high-value goods from suppliers keen to fulfil lucrative orders from a new, high-profile client.
Goods are then delivered in transit and invoices left unpaid.
More than 750 fake firms have been registered, often with misspelled names, in the last six weeks.
Experts are warning that action against fraudsters who are ‘damaging the reputations and legacy of a wide range of restaurants’ could take as long as 18 months to rectify.
“Checks by Companies House on the identity of people registering companies would reduce the risk of frauds and be a major help for restaurants and other businesses facing up to problems with fraudsters,” Blumenthal continues.
“The protection of our brands is absolutely paramount to our customers, our partners and our teams who excel every day in our kitchens and restaurants.
“We will not allow fraudsters to deceive unsuspecting patrons or partners and risk the legacy which we have collectively built with hard work, dedication, innovation and a grain of eccentricity.”
