Wow, I’m not sure how this is even legal, but I just received a demanding letter from a fraudulent organization calling itself “Business Filings Division” that is attempting to scam Laughing Squid into paying them $239.00. The letter they sent (front & back) is very similar to the annual “Statement of Information” form that the California Secretary of State requires of Limited Liability Companies in California.
The letter threatens us that if we do not pay their $239.00 fee that our LLC will be suspended and that we will lose the right to conduct business.
The California Secretary of State has issued a customer alert regarding the fraudulent Business Filings Divsion scam along with information on how to report these letters.
Here are more reports of the Business Filings Division scam from The Consumerist, Frye / Wiles, TaxLoopholes and MyWifeQuitHerJob.com.
UPDATE 1: Ha, check it out, Business Filings Division is on Yelp. Too bad that you can give negative star ratings.
UPDATE 2: California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. is suing serveral organizations that are operating scams targeting small business owners, including Business Filings Division, which is run by George Alan Miller, Rebecca Miller, Arghisti Keshishyan and Kristina Keshishyan.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks! I just sent them that check on Friday and I managed to get it stopped. That was close.
Yep, we’ve received the same for a couple years. Nearly thought it was real last year.
I received one of these for my C-Corp, so I can confirm they’re not preying just on LLCs.
I highly recommend that anyone who received one file a complaint with the attorney general’s office:
California Department of Justice, Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, California 94244-2550
http://www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php
This is the same scam domain registrars have been doing for years, sending “domain name expiration” notices in the hopes that a secretary or someone non-technical will send in a check to “renew” a domain name, resulting in a transfer to the scammy registry. ICANN’s new transfer policies pretty much put a stop to the domain name scam, it’s up to us to get the Secretary of State to do the same to these guys. (It’d be very simple for them to stop accepting filings from the scammers, putting them out of business.)
Thank you for posting about this. We almost fell for it last week, I even drove home from a business trip (90 miles one way) to check this out. ugh.
Thanks posting this! They sent a related notice to my non-profit. Payment was sitting in my outbox. Caught in the nick of time. I was noticing the peculiar acronym for “Business Filing Division”. Ironic, no?
I’ve seen similar scams also happen for domains renewals (as mentioned above), magazine subscriptions (other parties offering to renew you, often for a higher price, not sure if you get the mags or not), loan modifications (mentioning your lender’s name, but it’s another company sending to you). bastards.
This got me, but I called the secretary of state and they explained it. Can you say ANGRY?
There is a phone number at the bottom of the form. It sounds rather official and gives you the option to leave a message. 916-903-5355 Does anyone know how to use a phone number for some evil intent? Please?
One more scam to watch out for – copier toner. The caller will get someone in the office to identify the serial number of the copier, then the invoice comes in for about $800.00. Not sure if we even got the toner (which would make us marginally liable for the charge).
Has anyone researched the business license for this company? Perhaps they need an IRS audit? I have a hard time believing that they are defrauding businesses, but not the government.
There is a lot of emphasis put on Nigerian email scammers, and phishing for financial data. I hope there is also an official focus on this type of domestic fraud.
Thank you so much for posting this! I just received two notices today that have a due date of 10-15. I panicked for a minute but started reading the fine print and then started searching the web. I will be reporting these scammers and hope they pay for this.
News Release
October 08, 2009
For Immediate Release
Contact: (916) 324-5500
Print Version
Brown Sues 8 Individuals and 6 Businesses Operating Scams Targeting California Small Businesses
http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/print_release.php?id=1817
Thanks for that info, I’ve update the post.
My LLC also received this scam letter. I avoided being suckered by downloading the normal form and sending the normal $20 fee made out to the SOS, so when it was returned with another threatening letter from the “BFD”, I figured it was a scam, googled it, and made a complaint to the Attorney General’s office. The funny thing is that at first I thought it was the cash starved state that was perpetrating the scam by sending you the form that you can download and asking for the extra $219 for the service! I am glad to see that they have initiated the lawsuit.