BUSINESSES in Kent have been warned about a scam involving bogus letters charging four times the cost for company registration.

A Crayford firm received an official-looking letter telling it to register under the Data Protection Act in seven days and charged £135 when the actual cost is £35.

The letter was headed as a Final Notice, when no previous correspondence had been sent, and warned there could be a fine of up to £5,000.

Manager Margaret Jarrett became suspicious and passed a copy to Bexley Trading Standards, which has issued a warning about the con.

Mrs Jarrett, of Waterside Chiropractic Centre, said: "First of all I knew that we had registered, secondly the fee seemed too high.

"The letter was made to look official and because it had a Blackpool address I checked with the Blackpool Trading Standards website, which warned about this sort of correspondence.''

Alan Ritchie, of Bexley Trading Standards, said: "There are some unscrupulous individuals trying this.

"But if they are charging more than the £35 then it probably is a scam.''

Mr Ritchie says companies receiving such letters should pass them onto the Information Commissioner. This is the only statutory authority for administering and maintaining the public register of data controllers.

The letter for Mrs Jarrett's firm purported to be from the Data Protection Agency and was sub-titled Registration Enforcement with the address given as PO Box 1098, Blackpool FY1 2WS.

But the Information Commissioner's website lists this address as one from which mail has been sent, leading to complaints.

The real Data Protection Agency is part of the IC's office and is based in Wilmslow, Cheshire.

For more information contact the Information Commissioner at Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF or contact the helpline or 01625 545740.

Or you can visit the website www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.