Corporate criminals are becoming more and more sophisticated

Launching a new initiative, police said that the fraudulent ordering of items such as mobile phones and computers was costing firms as much as �50m a year.

Often the first a company knows about a crime is when it gets the bill.

If it does not have the right insurance, then the firm could still be liable for the cost of the goods.

'Threat'

Speaking at a joint news conference between Scotland Yard and Companies House, detective chief superintendent Nigel Mawer said that corporate identity fraud was a growing problem.

Criminal networks will go to where the profits are highest and where the risk of detection are lowest James Hart, City of London Police New tactics to fight fraud

Police also voiced concerns that the proceeds may be used to fund international terrorism.

"We want to make all companies in the UK aware of this threat," he explained.

James Hart, commissioner of City of London Police, said that "organised criminal networks will go where the profits from crime are highest and where the risk of detection are lowest".

Far from being a victimless crime, corporate identity fraud "costs the country a huge amount of money", he said.

Tried and tested

The crime works in much the same way as personal identity theft.

Criminals change the details of UK registered firms by filing fake documents with Companies House.

Having done that, the criminals can then impersonate the companies and use their credit lines to obtain goods.

Police said that criminals are so well organised that they have even diverted lorries mid-transit to new address.

Companies House warned that it could not check every one of the seven million or more documents it receives every year relating to changes of company details.

Tim Moss, director of strategy at Companies House, said that firms should follow a three-step plan to ensure they are safe.

• Check details at Companies House to ensure they have not been tampered with.
• Sign up for the Companies House electronic filing system - registration details can only be changed electronically with correct security codes.
• Sign up to an alert system which sends an email every time someone tries to change a firm's registered details.