Businesses in Aberdeen have been warned to avoid a mail scam that could result in a bill of nearly £2,400.
The city council’s trading standards team urged people not to respond to the correspondence from a firm in Hamburg, Germany.
The letter has the heading “Publication of Companies and VAT Registration Numbers in the UK Corporate Portal 2014?”
It cites changes to the “EU Economic Package”, which requires all companies to provide their VAT registration number on various documents.
The letter also includes a form for businesses to check and sign to say their details are correct if they wish their entry to be a “non-basic entry”.
The small print indicates that a cost of £797 a year will be incurred by the business, for a minimum of three years.
Graeme Paton, team leader at trading standards in Aberdeen, said: “We are concerned that local businesses may believe the letter to be from an official source, which is not the case.
“If businesses sign and return the form to confirm their details are correct they could end up being tied into a contract and be liable for high costs of an entry in this publication.
“We have had a couple of enquiries so far and businesses should be aware that they are not obliged to provide this information to this company.”
Anyone wishing to report a scam can contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service National Advice line on 0845 404 0506.