Recent fraud targeted at the recruitment sector

Fraud is an issue which affects individuals and business and organisations in many different sectors. Recruiters and their contractors are not immune to fraudulent activities.

We have been made aware of specific targeted activity which is targeted at umbrella companies in an effort to obtain monies from recruiters and contractors.

This involves the ‘cloning’ of umbrella companies,  with fraudulent companies taking on similar names to those of genuine umbrella companies and seeking to attract business from recruiters and contractors.

We would urge recruiters to be exercise caution when working with umbrella companies and to take steps to verify that the company is genuine. In particular if you are contacted by an umbrella company that you work with regularly or have worked with before, asking you to update the payment details that you have for them, do ensure that this is a genuine request. You can do this by contacting the umbrella company through your usual contact channels and if in doubt using virtual face communications can also help you to confirm that you are dealing with the correct company.

When contacted by new umbrella companies, if they are a member of FCSA and/or Professional Passport, you will be able to check at least whether the registered company number that they aligns with their company name is the same as that on the FCSA Directory of Members • FCSA Accreditation or Professional Passport member lists, in addition to your other due diligence checks.