Suspicious email: asking directors and persons of significant control to verify their identity

We have recently had a few of our clients flag an email they have received from a third-party website, asking them to verify their identity as a company director or person of significant control (PSC).

We want to reassure you that this is nothing to do with us. We handle identity verification for our clients directly and in-house. We will always contact you directly about this, via our official whyfield email address. You do not need to take any action through a third-party website or service.

While this appears to be more of a sales-type email than an outright scam, it is still important that you do not engage with it. Please do not click any links or submit any personal details. We recommend you report it as spam, block the sender, and delete the email.

We also advise you not to forward the email, or emails of a similar nature, to anyone (including us) as this risks the links within it being clicked accidentally.

Example email:

For more information about the new identity verification rules for directors coming into force in 2025, and how we are helping clients with this, take a look at our blog post: Directors Must Verify Their ID from 2025: A Guide to the New Companies House Rules.

A few tips for spotting emails like this:

• Always check the email address it has been sent from. If it looks unfamiliar or doesn’t match a sender you recognise, treat it with caution.
• Does the email sound different to communications you have received before? Is it addressed to you in an unusual way?
• Consider what they are asking you to do. Is this something you were expecting, or is it coming completely out of the blue?
• Be cautious of any email asking you to hand over personal details to a website or service you have never used or heard of before.

What to do if you have clicked a link:

If you have clicked on any links within this email, we recommend you run your antivirus software and update any relevant passwords.

If you have submitted any personal or financial details, please contact your bank or card issuer immediately if any payment information was shared.

If you are ever worried about an email you have received, please take a screenshot and send it across to us at [email protected]. As mentioned above, please do not forward the email directly, as this puts us at risk of clicking the links within it. Once we have had a look, we will update our Warnings & Scams page to make other clients aware.

To stay up to date with all scam emails, letters, or messages we have been made aware of, head to our Warnings & Scams page.