Other LanguagesScam letters demand payment for state business filings
OLYMPIA — Attorney General Bob Ferguson is warning of a scammer posing as the Secretary of State’s Office targeting Washington small businesses. The scam letters demand payment well beyond the cost of state business filings, and threaten business owners with fines or dissolution of their business for failing to comply. The Secretary of State has also received reports of similar telephone scams targeting Latino businesses, where they were also threatened with jail.
Since early November, the Attorney General’s Office has received at least 40 complaints about these letters, which ask for payments to be sent to “State of Washington Business Entities.”
“Scammers can be sophisticated, but don’t be fooled,” Ferguson said. “Be on the lookout for signs of a scam. If you think you’ve been the target of a scam, contact my office.”
The letters, which include the Washington state seal, are designed to look like official government communications. In addition to demanding excessive fees, they threaten late fees or penalties for failing to pay in a timely manner. One example showed a “billing summary” of more than $200 for filings that are either unnecessary or could be done directly with the Secretary of State for much less.
The letters are addressed to businesses directly and can have their Unified Business Identifier (UBI) number, making the letter appear official. However, business names and UBIs are publicly available, not confidential.
There are clues that the letter is a scam. For example, a letter shared with the Attorney General’s Office lists a Sacramento, Calif., address in its letterhead for the Washington Secretary of State, as well as a post office box in “Olympia, CA.” The QR code on the letter directs business owners to a website ending in .org, as opposed to the real Secretary of State’s website, which ends in .gov.
If you receive a letter like this, contact the Secretary of State’s office to inquire about the status of your business filings. If you have already paid after receiving a letter, consider stopping payment through your financial institution.
Any business or nonprofit that believes it may be the target of a scam should file a complaint with the Attorney General’s Office.
The Secretary of State offers comprehensive guides for small businesses and nonprofits.
Businesses and charities in Washington can always verify their filing status with the Secretary of State by visiting the Corporations and Charities Filing System (CCFS). Registration-related questions can be answered by a representative through the rapid response chat feature on the Secretary of State’s website, at (360) 725-0377 or by emailing corps@sos.wa.gov.
The Secretary of State’s Corporations and Charities division provides examples of false solicitations and how to spot them on the Misleading “Notices” & “Solicitations” FAQ webpage. To verify a communication regarding a business or nonprofit is legitimate, business owners can reference the Corporations & Charities factsheet.
Ferguson’s Small Business Protection Initiative goes after companies using deceptive practices to target small businesses
Last month, a King County Superior Court judge ordered EFile Business Inc. and Online Filing LLC to pay $450,636 for sending more than 147,000 deceptive text messages and thousands of emails to Washington businesses and nonprofits demanding excessive payment for common business filings. Ferguson filed a lawsuit against the businesses in May of 2023, and won a court order later that year shutting down the companies’ websites and suspending their internet domains.
In January, Ferguson filed a third enforcement action against three Michigan brothers who continually target small businesses around the country.
The details of their schemes vary, but they all involve deceptive solicitations giving the false impression that they are mandatory bills from a government agency. In 2008, after an Attorney General’s Office investigation, their company Mandatory Poster Agency entered into a legally enforceable agreement that it would provide full refunds to Washington businesses and stop the unlawful conduct to avoid a penalty.
Mandatory Poster Agency did not stop, and in 2014, the Attorney General’s Office filed a consumer protection lawsuit and won. In March 2016, a King County Superior Court judge ruled that Mandatory Poster Agency violated the Consumer Protection Act 79,354 times and ordered civil penalties and restitution of $1.15 million.
The most recent lawsuit is against their new company, Labor Law Poster Service. In November, the King County Superior Court found that the brothers’ business practices violated the Consumer Protection Act and will impose civil penalties during the remedies phase of the case in January.
In November 2022, as a result of a lawsuit filed by Ferguson, a King County Superior Court judge ordered CA Certificate Service and Labor Poster Compliance and their owners to pay more than $24.8 million for their unlawful conduct targeting small business owners. The companies sent hundreds of thousands of letters to Washington business owners that deceptively appeared to originate from the government. The letters demanded payments for posters or certificates that they deceptively implied were required to purchase. The certificate is not mandatory and available from the state for a fraction of the cost that CA Certificate Service demanded. The posters are available from state and federal agencies for free.
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Washington’s Attorney General serves the people and the state of Washington. As the state’s largest law firm, the Attorney General’s Office provides legal representation to every state agency, board, and commission in Washington. Additionally, the Office serves the people directly by enforcing consumer protection, civil rights, and environmental protection laws. The Office also prosecutes elder abuse, Medicaid fraud, and handles sexually violent predator cases in 38 of Washington’s 39 counties. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.
Media Contact:
Brionna Aho, Communications Director, (360) 753-2727; Brionna.aho@atg.wa.gov
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