Recently, Ms. Yang from Baoji, Shaanxi Province, revealed that she was unknowingly registered as the legal representative of 5 companies, which were operated abnormally. This situation has prevented her own company from filing taxes properly.
According to a report by “Elephant News” on April 28th, in mid-March this year, when Ms. Yang was filing taxes for her own company, she discovered that there were 5 companies registered in her name in the Wuhou District of Chengdu. Surprisingly, she was listed as the legal representative of two of these companies. Yang couldn’t help but question, “I have never lost my ID card, and I have never been to Chengdu. How did these 5 companies suddenly appear?”
On April 21st, Ms. Yang went to Chengdu to retrieve the original registration files of these 5 companies. The information in the files revealed that 3 of the companies were registered at the same address. Moreover, besides the ID card information matching hers, the contact phone numbers, residential addresses, and appointed agents were all forged. The signatures on the documents did not match her handwriting at all.
What’s even more serious is that all 5 of these companies were operating abnormally, causing disruptions to Ms. Yang’s own company’s tax filing process and severely affecting its operations.
To address this issue, Ms. Yang visited the Administrative Approval Office in Wuhou District of Chengdu for inquiries. The staff responded that after receiving Ms. Yang’s call in March, they had initiated an investigation and contacted the appointed agents at that time. However, the agents refused to cooperate with the investigation.
Another staff member disclosed that it’s not only Ms. Yang’s case, saying, “We have already handled over ten thousand similar cases like this.”
Ms. Yang couldn’t help but question the loopholes in the approval process, as it didn’t require the person to be physically present, didn’t verify the signatures, and didn’t conduct facial recognition. She pointed out that registering a company solely based on a copy of an ID card makes it too easy for identity theft in setting up companies.
Currently, Ms. Yang has reported the incident to the local police.
The incident has sparked concerns online, with many netizens expressing their doubts about the Chengdu industrial and commercial registration management system, especially after the statement, “We have already handled over ten thousand similar cases like this.” They questioned the lack of scrutiny in the approval process and the accountability of officials. Some commented that the employees involved seem to be mere figureheads without real responsibilities.
Some netizens emphasized the importance of personal information protection, sharing their personal experiences like receiving unwanted calls from numerous renovation companies even before they had received the keys to their relocated homes, raising concerns about how these companies obtained their phone numbers.
In summary, this incident has raised significant concerns about the verification process in company registrations and the protection of personal information. The case serves as a cautionary tale highlighting the potential risks of identity theft and the need for more stringent measures to safeguard individuals’ data and prevent unauthorized business registrations.