Vince Cable

Local small firms are being targetted by bogus companies who claim to be official agencies demanding registration fees to comply with the Data Protection Act.

Vincent Cable, MP, has been approached by two local companies in Heath Road who have been approached by people calling themselves the Crown data Collection Enforcement Agency demanding money with the claim that companies must pay to make themselves legally compliant.

They demand £95 + VAT (the cost of registration is actually £35 with no VAT).

Vincent Cable said: "this racket is known to the Information Commissioner who has sent out a warning notice regarding 10 companies all with plausible sounding names and with addresses in Lancashire or Cheshire."

"Trading standards officers are aware that this is a scam but I suspect that many companies pay up."

"Because Twickenham has large numbers of successful small companies I suspect we are being targetted. And since the individual fraud is a modest scale it is more likely to be undetected than if it were on a grander scale. Any company worried about this should contact the local trading standards office."