{"id":2818,"date":"2026-08-11T16:10:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/fake-rechnungen-fuer-eintrag-ins-handelsregister\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T16:10:56","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T14:10:56","slug":"fake-rechnungen-fuer-eintrag-ins-handelsregister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/fake-rechnungen-fuer-eintrag-ins-handelsregister\/","title":{"rendered":"Fake invoices for entry in the commercial register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scammers are targeting startups<\/h3>\n

Westphalian Chamber of Notaries<\/i>. Time and again, newly established GmbHs receive fake invoices immediately after being entered in the commercial register. Many of these fake documents can only be distinguished from the official invoices issued by the registry courts upon close inspection and demand payment within an extremely short timeframe. Failure to pay allegedly results in late fees and the forced collection of the amount. The scammers exploit the fact that many companies expect to receive such an invoice immediately after registration. However, those affected should under no circumstances make a hasty payment if an invoice appears suspicious. Especially when paying abroad, the money may be irretrievably lost.<\/p>\n

Fraudsters are searching the public commercial register<\/span><\/h3>\n

In Germany, registration with the local commercial register at the competent local court is now done exclusively electronically. Anyone can access the public notice, register extracts, and stored documents free of charge at www.handelsregister.de<\/a> can be accessed. Fraudsters track down the addresses of newly formed companies and send them fake invoices in the name of official agencies. The fake invoices can look deceptively genuine and may, for example, feature the state coat of arms without authorization or a forged official seal. The invoices list the court registration fees or other costs allegedly associated with the company\u2019s formation as the item being billed. Even existing limited liability companies (GmbHs) that have merely updated their registration may fall victim to this scam.<\/p>\n

Here's How Victims Can Spot Fake Invoices<\/span><\/h3>\n

Anyone who suspects they have been targeted by scammers should look out for a few telltale signs: If the entry in the commercial register is initiated at a local court, only that local court will issue the invoice. Often, the scammers will ask you to transfer the amount to an account abroad. You can tell this by the first two letters of the IBAN, which indicate the country; accounts in Germany begin with \u201eDE.\u201c While the payment deadline for genuine invoices is often 14 days, fake invoices usually have significantly shorter deadlines\u2014such as three business days\u2014and simultaneously threaten to impose late fees. Failure to pay would allegedly result in further consequences, such as the company not being fully registered in the commercial register. These examples are just a few possible warning signs of a fraud attempt.<\/p>\n

Asking the notary provides clarity<\/span><\/h3>\n

The registration of a GmbH with the Commercial Register must be certified by a notary. The notary drafts the text, ensures the entry is made correctly, and is thoroughly familiar with the current status of the proceedings. Company founders or managing directors should therefore contact their notary directly if in doubt. In addition, those affected can contact the local court at the phone number provided in previous correspondence. However, under no circumstances should the phone number or email address listed on the suspicious invoice be used. Fake invoices containing information that should only be known to government agencies or the notary should be reported immediately to the notary\u2019s office, the court, the police, and the data protection authority.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fraudsters Are Targeting Start-ups\u2014Westphalian Chamber of Notaries. Time and again, newly established limited liability companies (GmbHs) receive fake invoices immediately after being entered in the commercial register. Many of these fake documents can only be distinguished from the official invoices issued by the registry courts upon close inspection, and they demand payment within an extremely short timeframe. Failure to pay allegedly results in late fees\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/notar-sawade.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}