Friday - March 29, 2024
Scam By Mail Targets Small Business
Written by Josh Zach   
Thursday, 30 July 2015 15:02

If you own a business or nonprofit and you've received an official piece of mail from "Division of Corporate Services," it's a scam. That's the word from the North Carolina office of the Attorney General and Office of the Secretary of State.

 

Businesses that get letters asking them to pay $150 to stay in compliance with state records laws should ignore the request, Attorney General Roy Cooper and Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said today.

“Don’t let your business get tricked into paying this bogus fee,” Cooper said. “We’re taking action to protect North Carolina businesses from these misleading mailings.”

“These are sleazy operators who know the letters they are sending out are misleading and nothing more than attempts to scam business owners out of money," Marshall said. "So if you have any questions at all about your annual report--call us!”

North Carolina business owners have reported getting letters from Division of Corporate Services asking them to complete a form and return it with a $150 fee by July 31 to a Raleigh address that is a rented mailbox.

The letters include official-looking seals, titles, and language that could deceive recipients into believing they owe money to the government. The mailings also refer to state laws that require small business owners to maintain certain records like shareholder meeting minutes and annual reports, but the Division of Corporate Services form does not meet legitimate state reporting requirements.

According to Cooper’s investigation, the bogus letters were sent by a Florida company, Annual Business Services, LLC, run by Tate J. Howe of California. Cooper’s office contacted Howe last week and instructed the company to stop sending the misleading mailings to North Carolina businesses. Investigators with the Attorney General’s Office will collect all checks sent to the rented mailbox used by the scammers and return them to the businesses that sent them.

The Secretary of State’s Office does not issue letters like the ones sent by Division of Corporate Services, Marshall said.

Division of Corporate Services has targeted business owners in several other states this year, including Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Nevada, and Texas.

Cooper and Marshall have fought similar scams in the past. In 2012, a California company called Corporate Services, Inc. sent letters requesting official records from business owners. The company was permanently banned from operating in North Carolina and returned $90,000 in checks it had collected from small businesses across the state.

In 2007, National Business Registry sent invoices to North Carolina businesses claiming that they failed to register with the National Corporation Registry and owed $487 or their corporation would be dissolved. Cooper and Marshall won a permanent ban on the company sending its phony invoices within North Carolina.

Business owners can check the status of their corporation, limited liability company, or other registered business entity through the North Carolina Secretary of State's Office online at  www.sosnc.com, or by phone at 919-807-2225 or toll-free at 1-888-246-7636.

If you receive a letter from an entity that demands suspicious fees and information for business compliance, contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-877-5-NO-SCAM or file a consumer complaint online at ncdoj.gov.

http://www.ncdoj.gov/News-and-Alerts/News-Releases-and-Advisories/Press-Releases/Don’t-fall-for-misleading-mail-from-Division-of-Co.aspx

 
Facebook Twitter RSS Feed 
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner

 

NCNN is a division of Curtis Network Group, Inc.
3012 Highwoods Blvd. - Suite 201 - Raleigh, NC 27604
Office/Sales: 919-790-9392 | Newsroom: 919-878-1724
Copyright © 2018 - Curtis Media Group, Inc.