MHRA impersonators seek competitor data

“We regularly receive reports from companies that someone claiming to be working for the MHRA has rung asking for information or to speak to individuals in the company,”​ MHRA spokesperson, Elizabeth Bolton, told NutraIngredients.com.

She said there appeared to be no set pattern to the clandestine queries, so it was difficult to determine motivations, but certain techniques were common.

“Companies will ring to let us know and give contact information where the enquirer has been asked to leave a number - these often turn out to be unobtainable numbers,” ​Bolton added.

“We regularly remind companies via our web site that this sort of thing happens but our experience is that most companies tend to be very wary and alert to the fact that there might be something ‘not quite right’ about a caller and they have reasonably good security regimes. We do take every report seriously but often there is no further action we can take in individual circumstances.”​