Have You Received Mail From Business Filings Division?
I’m starting to see a rash of mail come through my office from a company called Business Filings Division. My California clients look to be targeted right now, although I’m sure other states will be soon. If you’ve received one, don’t be fooled. It’s not real and you don’t have to do anything.
191 Responses to “Have You Received Mail From Business Filings Division?”
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I just finished filing my Statement of Information using form LLC-12R for my LLC by myself and it cost only $20. The Annual Filing Division is a fraud! Save money – file yourself! Someone should take the Annual Filing Division DOWN!!
I got two letters, one from Business Filings Division in September 09 asking for $239 which I paid and everything looked so official. The 2nd one from Annual Filing Division, I just got on 10/14/09 asking for $195.00 Also, looked so official, and suspicious. I am going to call Ca Attorney General’s office to file a complaint, 1-800-952-5225. We need help from the government to stop this scam.
So one unsettling aspect of the notification I received yesterday from Annual Filing Division is that they had the correct CA LLC number for my business. However, if you take a look at the state seal they use, you’ll notice that it’s wrong. Pretty scary though because I had gotten as far as filling out the form before doing a check on the internet to confirm the legitimacy of this notification. I’m very thankful to everyone who posted here.
WE REC’D. TWO (2) OF THESE SAME LETTERS AND DID NOT PAY. I SENT BOTH COPIES WITH A NOTE TO
CALIFORNIA SECRETARY STATE DEBRA BOWEN
1500 11TH STREE
SACRAMENTO CA 95814
IF EVERYONE SENDS A COPY OF THERES , MAYBE THEY SHALL DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!
Wow, thank god for Google, I just cut a check for $235.00 and was rushing to put it in the mail (to avoid penalties) haha…. when something caught my eye; I actually starting reading the information a little closer….it said “Every domestic stock and agricultural cooperative corporation” ding ding! this doesn’t apply to my business, wouldn’t the state know what companies to send this letter to? Thanks to everyone for all the insight…..it saved me $235!
I got one today 10/15 with a due date of 10/15. Said $235 was due and $250 late fee…glad I googled
I recieved a request from Business Filings Division today. They are requesting that I pay them $235.00 immediatley. Looks like a government document however the amount is not consistant with filing or annual fee’s. Letter clearly states it is not a government document. I am reguarding this as a fraud. Thank you “US Tax Aid Services” for posting this ad.
We also received this letter from “Business Filings Division” requesting $235. We almost wrote a check, but then felt it is suspicious. Searched on the web and thanks to all of you posting here, we were not tricked. Yes, I am wondering what the CA attorney general is doing? This kind business should have been shut down long time ago. It’s already months!
Got one too. This one is asking for $235 due today. Glad I found this blog. I will be turning this over to the CA Attorney Generals office. It’s sad that people do this and actually get away with it. That’s pretty low!!
I had doubts after getting one from BFD ($239) then today rec’d one from AFD ($195) and they looked identical except for business address. Thanks to this site, my suspicions were confirmed. I hope these scammers get punished and banished!
Stop being vicitm’s people!!!!! How dare these people think we are going to tolerate this. Contact The Secretary of State and make them shut these jerks down!
This is absolutely ridiculous SCAM of the first order. I received one in the mail asking for $195 for filing Statement of Information about my LLC. Since I just filed my Statement of Information through My Corporation, I was suspicious and googled on them and found it is a SCAM as it is stated here. So, I called the number on the form. I was greeted with the familiar statement of “Your call will be recorded or monitored… ” etc. After that a women answered my call and I asked her which department of the Government they are associated with. Her answer was that they are not associated with Government. Then I asked her why should I pay them $195. She said they are a service company and they are offering their service and it is optional that I take it or not. No where in the form I received it is stated that they are offering a service. So, I confronted her with that. Here is her answer “I just now stated that to you.”
This is a classy SCAM at work. Please do not be fooled by this.
I have just started a LLC and this is the 2nd such scam mail I have received. After the first similar scam letter I checked the site for the Attorney General (CA) website but they make it difficult to report such frauds. It seems to me that if lawenforcement would have any interest, these scammers could be easily caught. I am sure that many people just starting their first business will fall for this and that’s just not right.
Unfortunately I took the bait and paid these thieves. Once I realized that this was foul play I filed a complaint with the State of California Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau.
I’ve since received a letter from the Attorney General that a civil action has been filed on behalf of the people of California against the company I received the letter from which is Business Fillings Division.
I encourage anyone that is in the same boat as myself to contact the Better Business Bureau and the California Attorney General to file a complaint.
Has someone started looking into a class action lawsuit for deceptive marketing?
My dad received one for his church last week. Thank you so much for posting this!!
I received one from Business Filings Division and paid it last week. 239.00, My mistake. My suspicians were aroused today when I received another official looking fake tax bill. Further research has led me to an attorney who is looking at the possibility of filing a class action suit against the mail-fraud scammers. Anyone who wishes to pursue civil legal action against these scum should contact:
Kenneth Berland, Attorney,
2263 Derby Street
Berkeley, CA 94705
at: 310 383 7981
Plaintiffs from Alemeda county are needed help him to file the suit in his local jurisdiction with the Alemeda County Superior Court.
It looks like the Attorney General and the Postal inspectors aren’t doing a whole lot to help the scam victims. Perhaps a civil suit will slow down these scammers.
NICE! The State Attorney General has sued the scammers and a couple others like them!!!
http://zedomax.biz/blog/shitlist/business-filings-division-and-annual-filings-division-scam-artists-caught-and-sued/
I hope THEY ALL GO TO JAIL!
This happened to me too in September. I paid “Business Filing Division” the $239, thinking it was legit. Today I received another letter, this time from “Annual Filing Division” for $195. How stupid do they think I am!!!! Grrrrrr
I just received a notice from an official looking letter from the Annual Filing Division asking for filing fees immediately for my LLC. When I called to ask for more information, I knew something was up when there was a recorded message that they were busy but no info about them calling me back. So I went on the internet and found this site. Boy am I glad. I’m not sending these frauds a penny. I’m going to report them to the state. Don’t know that it’ll help, but I’m not going to do nothing.
D.
Yes, I got one. Government have to help us to stop this kind of scams.I hope they will take of this.
Wow it is interesting to read all of these comments and find out how completely human I am! I had not opened my mail in a few days and was totally panicked that the $239 was past due and I would get a $250 fine. My worry went into overdrive and that’s what these crooks want to happen. I sent a check in yesterday and stewed over how California was screwing small businesses because of the budget crisis. I remembered paying only $20 last year.
But then…..just today I got ANOTHER similar but not identical form asking for $195 (due in 2 days!!), but then after getting even more alarmed I became suspicious. Luckily the sheer greed of the crooks did them in, at least for me. After a few minutes of internet digging I had the check for $239 stopped at the bank before it was cashed. I then downloaded a consumer complaint form and will be sending in copies of the fraudulent documents. It will help the CA Attorney General’s office go after these guys (all this was confirmed by a phone call to their office today). You can fill in the form on the internet but having actual copies of what you received in the mail will be more effective.
I am actually quite horrified that many, many innocent people struggling to keep their small businesses afloat have probably sent in checks and have absolutely no idea they’ve been scammed.
I got ripped because I sent the payment and then I got another one, the first one said, make check payable to” Business Filings Division” then the second one is “Annual Filing Division”. They have no heart. After ripping me off already, they want to rip me off again. God is not sleeping, I always let Him take care of these kind of people. Any advise if there is a way to get bak my money?
Thank you for all who wrote their experience on these scam. Beth
Same thing here. This one is for Annual Filing Division with a Sacramento, CA address. I filled it all out, worried about the due date. Then, I noticed the 993 prefix for the phone number. Cell phone??? Got a message, “unable to answer…”
SO GLAD I didn’t send it!
I have two LLCs and fell for the BFD scam … I’m out $478. Then today got the “Annual Filing Division” and knew immediately I’d been scammed by BFD. Dammit ! I filed a complaint with the Attorney General. We all need to show up at their offices with pitchforks and torches screaming “BFD !! BFD !!”
Received my “Annual Filing Division” notice today. Had all of the LLC information correct but I decided to Google the address. The 1215 K Street 17th Floor address, Sacramento, CA address on the return envelope is the address for some lawyers.
Everything looked very official with the exception of the seal. It does not say State of California on it only California. I hope they put these guys behind jail.
Following info is from the sos.ca.gov website:
California businesses in receipt of a solicitation letter that seems misleading or confusing can mail a written complaint along with the entire solicitation (including the solicitation letter, the outer and return envelopes, and all related documents) to the California Attorney General’s office, Public Inquiry Unit, P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, California 94244-2550. A complaint form, which can be completed online and printed to mail, is available on the California Attorney General’s website at http://www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php.
We received our notice from these “friendly” folks today. I started to fill it out, but thought it was wierd that the due date was already past and there was no contact info on the document. Thanks for exposing this!
I work for a large company with several entities qualified in California. I am responsible for the annual reports for these entities. In the past few months I have received over 30 Statements of Information forms from the Business Filings Division. I did call them to complain amd said I was going to report them to the Attorney General. They were quite anxious to get me off the phone. Hopefully, action will be taken to stop this fradulent behavior.
We received a letter from the “Annual Filing Division” a couple of weeks ago asking for $195.00. It looked like the real paperwork I submitted two months earlier, I thought that my payment of $20.00 might not have been received, so I called a number of the form to verify, the message stated that because of the high number of calls, my call could not be answered and gave me an e-mail address. The other things caught my attention, 1) the due date was less than two weeks from when I received it in the mail, 2) the seal does not say “State of California”, 3) the $195.00 cost, and 4) the letter stating ” this product or service has not been approved or endorsed by any govenment agence…”. So, I went on the internet and found this site, and thanks to this site, I shredded the scam.
I almost got dooped too, Business Filing Division, make checks payable to BFD Immediately to avoid penalties. BFD should stand for something else that I can’t even type out, what a bunch of snakes. This is quite a brilliant approach, malicious, but brilliant. I was filling out the officer information and the verbiage down at the bottom which references they are not a government agency gave it away. I’ve received similar attempts in the past but this one was prepared quite well. Unfortunately, its to my knowledge that most of these companies follow every letter of the laws setup to protect consumers. Its the laws that need updating, a clearer more protective definition of “misleading” must be used and continue to evolve as businesses like this push the envelope with new creative ways to screw Joe Consumer.
I too almost got dooped by Annual Filing Division. I was worried at first because I had forgotten about it – and missed the due date for payment of $195.00. I was worried about the assessment of a $250.00 penalty for failure to pay on time. I tried contacting them by phone in the attempt to have them waive the $250.00 penalty. No one ever answers the phone, but the recording directed me, the caller, to http://www.Support@annualfilingdivision.com. Well, it does not exist. I decided to Google “california annual filing division” where it took me to several sites which included the word “SCAM”. Wow….it opened my eyes and if it hadn’t been for this I would have been taken big-time.
Thanks a million for your warning! I was ready to send out $239, but wanted to talk to them about why we owe them this money. Then I googled “business filing division” in sacramento to get a telephone number.I am so happy I did that.
Thanks to you I didn’t lose $239 and $250 late fee from our struggling small company.
These people should be put in jail for cheating inocent people.
Thanks again!
Only after I sent my check to these scam artists, did I actually sit down and look into it and find this site which opened my eyes. It was too late though. On my bank statements they had already cashed the check. Can someone answer these questions:
Is there ANY way to get the money back?
Is complaining to the Attorney General the only way?
Please advise.
These guys are tricky! If you dont look carefully & read EVERYTHING than its easy to get scammed by them. Thier seal on the ‘invoice’ isnt the CA Sec of State’s seal & also fishy that we received this a week before the ‘due date’ when normally you are notified atleast a month in advance. This looked suspicious and since I review all legal documentation with our inhouse lawyer, he was able to spot the discrempancies immediately as well!
I feel bad for anyone who doesnt realize its a scam & they send them money. Corpartate Filing Unit’s address that is listed is: 1104 Corporate Way, Sacramento, CA 95831.
Does anyone know the fraud/scam deptartment where we can forward these onto? Thanks.
At the first reading I thought it was real, then at second reading I saw it was not a Government form and became suspicious. Before calling my legal counsel, I decided to check on the web and found your site and the truth. Many thanks !
Unfortunately, I got one too. I scanned the letter and posted about it here. Hope that helps some people recognize it.
This scam comes directly from a company called CorpFilers located in Valencia, CA
Admittedly, for a variety of reasons, I did not realize I was being scammed until I received a confirmation back from them that they’d supposedly filed with the SOS what is in fact erroneous information and upon completing the investigation that I should have done initially, I discovered this fact. I will join anyone in a class-action suit and am beginning some discovery activities personally if there are others working on similar fronts, I’d like to know about it.
I really liked your spectacular blog! The info you provide is impressive ! I think im gonna stick around and read about 2 more of your posts. With warmth
I too got burned by these #$%^%$!s. $239 gone. Would anyone like to join me in a class action law suit to try to ruin their day?
Please email me if you are interested. We only have strength in numbers, and I am happy to put this together.
Thanks!
John
classaction8@yahoo.com
The persons responsible for the scam are George Alan Miller, Rebecca Miller, Arghisti Keshishyan and Kristina Keshishyan. I’m hoping they get jail time for the fraud they continue to run.