Spotting Scam Letters After Formation: How to Check Fake Invoices
After a GmbH or UG is registered, letters that look like official invoices often land in the letterbox. Especially in this phase, the worry of missing a deadline or a payment is great.
All the more important to check the sender, the reason for payment and the bank details carefully before transferring money or signing a form.
Table of contents
At a glance
- After entry in the commercial register, company data is publicly accessible and can be used by dubious senders.
- Particularly common are fake court fee invoices, private register offers and false payment requests relating to the transparency register.
- Genuine court fee invoices come from an official payment office of the judiciary and must match the register court, file number and reason.
- The report of beneficial owners to the transparency register is filed via the official portal. This must be distinguished from the annual fee for keeping the register.
- Short deadlines, threats, third-party portals and unclear payees are clear warning signs.
- If in doubt: do not pay hastily, but have the letter checked by the competent court, the court cashier’s office or the notary’s office.
Why newly formed companies in particular are targeted
The commercial register is public. Since 1 August 2022, register contents and electronically available documents have generally been retrievable free of charge via the register portal of the federal states or handelsregister.de, including company name, registered office and business address. For business partners, this creates transparency and trust. For dubious senders, it creates an easily exploitable source of information.
Then there is the timing. After formation, you actually expect invoices: from the notary’s office, from the register court, from the chamber. Anyone in the middle of building a business, making many decisions at once and above all wanting to get nothing wrong often no longer checks another invoice for a few hundred euros in detail. That is exactly what the scam is designed for: a fake invoice after GmbH formation reaches people in a phase in which an official-looking letter with a deadline triggers stress rather than scepticism.
These three scams you should know
1. Fake court fee invoice: the fake invoice for the commercial register
Entry in the commercial register does in fact cost court fees. That is why a fake court fee invoice seems entirely plausible at first. The forgeries are sometimes hard to distinguish from the original: state coat of arms, heading of the local court, reference to your specific, recently completed entry. Register courts regularly warn of nationwide waves of such letters.
Usually several hundred euros are demanded under invented fee descriptions, often payable to unclear recipients such as the “Handelsregister” and often to an account with a foreign IBAN. A foreign IBAN is a clear warning sign. A German IBAN alone, however, is no proof of authenticity, as fake invoices now sometimes appear with German bank details too. Therefore always check the sender, payee, file number, amount and the specific reason for the claim as well.
For context: statutory register fees are charged for the entry of a GmbH. In Berlin, the fee for the entry of a GmbH is currently 150 euros, or 240 euros with contributions in kind. A provision fee may be added, so the actual invoice may be slightly higher. Such an amount therefore does not make a genuine invoice suspicious. Genuine court fee invoices come from the competent court cashier’s office, state treasury or an official payment office of the judiciary of the respective federal state. What matters is that the sender, file number, register court, reason and bank details match.
2. Dubious register letters and directory offers
Somewhat more subtly, senders operate under names such as “Handelsregisterzentrale” or “Gewerberegister”, often with official-sounding additions. The letters look like invoices for your register entry. Only the small print reveals that it is merely an offer: for inclusion in a private online directory of no discernible benefit, often for several hundred euros and sometimes with annual renewal.
Anyone who transfers the amount may thereby accept this offer and conclude a contract they never wanted. According to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice, offer letters designed to resemble invoices can constitute deception within the meaning of the offence of fraud if, viewed objectively, they create the impression of an official invoice. Whether this applies in the individual case depends on the specific design. The Bundesanzeiger publishes a list of known dubious senders against which you can compare suspicious letters.
3. Transparency register scams by email and letter
This scam is particularly tricky because there is a genuine obligation behind it: GmbHs and UGs must report their beneficial owners to the transparency register. That is exactly what fraudsters exploit. By email or letter, for example in the name of an “Organisation Transparenzregister e.V.”, they refer to the Money Laundering Act, threaten fines and demand a paid registration via a third-party portal. Chambers, authorities and the Bundesanzeiger Verlag have also been warning for years about unofficial emails and payment requests in connection with the transparency register.
The facts are: the report for the entry of beneficial owners is filed via transparenzregister.de and is free of charge. This must be distinguished from the annual basic fee for keeping the register, which is charged by the body keeping the register, Bundesanzeiger Verlag GmbH. Warning signs are above all requests for paid registration via third-party portals, emails with threats of fines and short deadlines, unfamiliar links and senders that do not belong to the official body keeping the register.
File the report to the transparency register directly after formation via the official portal, or get support with it. Anyone who knows that the report has already been filed recognises false payment requests immediately.
Checklist: spotting fake commercial register invoices and other scam letters
Whether an invoice relating to the commercial register is a scam or comes from an official body can usually be checked by a few features:
- Sender: Genuine court fee invoices come from the competent court cashier’s office, state treasury or an official payment office of the judiciary of your federal state, not from private register services, associations, business directories or unspecific senders such as “Handelsregisterzentrale”, “Gewerberegister” or similar fantasy names.
- Payee: The recipient of the payment should match the official body, not a private register service or an association.
- File number: A genuine letter refers plausibly to your specific register matter, with a traceable file number and the correct register court.
- IBAN: A foreign bank account is a clear warning sign. A German IBAN alone, however, is no proof of authenticity. Always check the sender, payee and reason as well.
- Amount: Does the amount match the reason? Conspicuously high sums under fee descriptions that cannot be attributed to any genuine service point to a scam letter.
- Pressure: Very short payment deadlines of three to seven days and threats of deletion of the entry or of fines are typical of dubious register letters.
- Small print: If the word “offer” appears anywhere, it is not an official invoice.
- Links and QR codes: Do not click links or scan QR codes blindly. Better to open official pages manually or check the letter directly with the competent court or the notary’s office.
- Cross-check: Compare suspicious letters with the list of dubious senders at the Bundesanzeiger. If in doubt, a call to the competent local court helps.
These letters really do arrive after formation
So that you do not accidentally leave genuine mail unattended, it helps to look at what usually arrives after a GmbH or UG formation:
- the fee invoice from your notary’s office for notarisation and the commercial register application,
- the court fee invoice from the court cashier’s office or an official payment office of the judiciary for entry in the commercial register,
- tax registration via ELSTER and later mail or queries from the tax office, for example about the tax number,
- depending on the activity and chamber membership, a letter from the IHK or Chamber of Crafts about membership,
- the fee notice from Bundesanzeiger Verlag GmbH for keeping the transparency register: the entry or report is free of charge, but keeping the register may be subject to an annual fee,
- depending on the industry or activity, mail from the competent employers’ liability insurance association.
The order and the sender names can vary depending on the federal state and the individual case. A letter should only be paid, however, once the sender, amount and reason match.
Set a simple rule for the first months, for example: no transfer to authorities or registers without a brief comparison with this list or without the four-eyes principle. This takes a few minutes and prevents hasty payments.
Received a scam letter or already paid? How to respond
With a suspicious letter, the rule is:
- do not pay and do not sign anything,
- do not open links and do not scan QR codes,
- keep the letter, envelope, email and attachments as evidence,
- check the sender, IBAN and file number,
- if in doubt, ask the local court, the court cashier’s office, the notary’s office or the official contact channels of the transparency register.
If you have already paid:
- Contact your bank immediately and try to stop or recall the transfer.
- File a criminal complaint with the police; in most federal states this can also be done online.
- Keep the letter and the proof of payment.
- In the case of an offer letter resembling an invoice, have it checked legally whether the unwanted contract can be contested.
The faster you respond, the better the chance of still stopping the payment. There is no guarantee, as the recipient accounts are often abroad. In addition, a report to bodies such as the Wettbewerbszentrale (Centre for Protection against Unfair Competition) may be considered, especially in the case of systematically misleading offer letters.
Safely through the first months after formation
Anyone who knows which letters are genuine and which costs actually arise is not pressured by fake mail. At Notary Franke’s office in Berlin, we discuss as part of the formation which invoices and official letters typically come your way after notarisation. If you receive a letter after registration that you cannot place, better to ask once in connection with your formation before paying hastily.
More from the series: the notary appointment
Arrange a notary appointment
Planning a GmbH or UG formation? Arrange an appointment with Notary Franke in Berlin. We support you from the first consultation and notarisation through to the application to the commercial register.
Frequently asked questions about scam letters and fake invoices after formation
Check the sender, payee, file number, amount and deadline. A fake court fee invoice often names unclear recipients, an untraceable file number, conspicuously high amounts and very short deadlines, frequently combined with a foreign IBAN. If in doubt, ask the competent local court or your notary’s office before you pay.
Yes. Statutory register fees are charged for the entry. In Berlin, these are currently 150 euros for the entry of a GmbH, or 240 euros with contributions in kind. A provision fee may be added, so the actual invoice may be slightly higher. On top of that comes the fee invoice from the notary’s office. What matters is that the sender, file number, reason and bank details of the invoice match your entry.
No. The report for the entry of beneficial owners via transparenzregister.de is free of charge. However, an annual basic fee may be charged for keeping the transparency register, which is levied by Bundesanzeiger Verlag GmbH. Suspicious, on the other hand, are third-party portals, paid registration offers, threats of fines by email and senders that do not match the official communication of the body keeping the register.
Contact your bank immediately and file a criminal complaint. The faster you respond, the better the chance of still stopping the transfer. There is no guarantee, especially if the recipient account is abroad. In the case of offer letters resembling invoices, contesting the contract may additionally be considered; this should be checked legally in the individual case.
According to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice, offer letters designed to resemble invoices can constitute deception within the meaning of the offence of fraud if, viewed objectively, they create the impression of an official invoice. Whether this applies in the individual case depends on the specific design. Filing a complaint is still worthwhile, not least so that the investigating authorities can recognise patterns.
From public registers. Company name, registered office and business address are visible to everyone after registration. This cannot be prevented, but it is part of the transparency of the commercial register. All the more important to briefly check every payment request in the first weeks after formation.
Yves ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Appointments are easy to book via self-service on the website, and on site everything went smoothly and was friendly. Thank you.”
Check suspicious letters first
Official-looking invoices and short payment deadlines should not lead to hasty transfers after formation. Check the sender, reason for payment, file number and bank details, and compare the letter with the official information.
If in doubt, the notary’s office can help place a letter in connection with the formation. This makes it possible to distinguish genuine fees from private offers or fraudulent payment requests.
