Business urged to be vigilant over scam trading standards email

The email, received by a local business, warns the recipient that they have not registered their business and includes a link that supposedly will allow them to do so and file a tax return.

The senders email address is ianhardytradingstandards@gmail.com and the text of the email is as follows:

“I am just dropping you an email to let you know that you need to register your business (the name of the targeted business) I have checked the local gov data base and can see this is not been registered please can you do this asap you can do this online at www.gov.uk it will only take 10 minutes of your time to fill out a few questions and a tax return also I have noticed you are selling products that are copyright from the near future can you please refrain from doing this as it's a trade mark and the logos you are using belong to different company's ie branded 

Kind regards 

Ian”

Trading standards officials in Hartlepool are stressing that businesses are not required to register with Hartlepool Trading Standards or the Governments .gov.uk site, and if they receive the above email they should avoid clicking on any links and delete it immediately.

Any businesses requiring trading standards advice can contact Hartlepool Borough Council’s Trading Standards Team on (01429) 523362.