Small business owners are so busy running their company that they are putting their firm at risk of fraud, according to datareleased by security experts Equifax.

Only half of respondents said they regularly check their own business credit report, despite corporate ID fraud, or company hijacking, being one of the most common types of fraud.

This is where fraudulent documents purporting to change the company officers and/or registered office details are filed at Companies House without the knowledge of the genuine company owners with a view to obtaining goods on credit with no intention of paying for them. This can be particularly damaging to the credit status of the genuine company, which is especially worrying in the current climate where access to business funding is already limited.

“Vigilance is key to protect against all forms of fraud affecting businesses, and not just vigilance of customers but an organisation’s own company data at Companies House,” said Neil Munroe, Equifax external affairs director.

“Gaining as much intelligence about customers andsuppliers is essential. Businesses shouldn’t take anything for granted – they should check new customers and suppliers thoroughly from the outset.”