Equifax, a leading ID fraud expert, is offering businesses a handy guide to help them tackle the issues of corporate identity fraud.

The concise guide outlines each of the threats to businesses, including long firm fraud, phoenix companies and company hi-jacking. Each section is followed by advice on reducing the risks, ranging from practical steps such as confirming a trading address to advice on investment in online monitoring tools.

The informative booklet also includes a 12-point checklist for businesses, summarised here, outlining key ways to reduce the risks:

12-point Fraud Checklist

Identify business partners and directors
Confirm fax and telephone numbers
Never accept hand written order forms or faxes
Confirm the trading address of customers and suppliers
Ask for original headed company paper
Don’t assume information provided is correct – always double check and follow up references
Are you sure they are who they say they are?
Check that the telephone area code is relevant to where the business claims to be trading from
Can they provide trade or bank references?
Are all references truly independent?
Check for any connections to previous companies with similar or identical names
Did they answer your call with a business name?