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Businesses warned: Beware DPA scammers
Money for nothing

By Jo Best

Published: Wednesday 25 October 2006

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has warned UK businesses to be on the lookout for fake data protection notices.

The warning comes after two men were ordered to pay back hundreds of thousands of pounds after taking fees from UK businesses, claiming to register them under the Data Protection Act.

The two men, from Burnley, charged their victims between £95 and £135 a time - up to £100 more than the ICO charges companies to register directly - and have now been ordered by Burnley Crown Court to pay back the money totalling over £450,000.

The ICO has advised companies receiving any unsolicited letters from data protection agencies demanding more than £35 a year to "throw the letter in the bin and not to pay the fee".

In the past, tech companies have been particularly targeted by fraudsters who often threaten businesses with fines of several thousand pounds if they don't comply with the scammers' demands.