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 got the “Business Filings Division” letter. No government seal or telephone #’s clued me into this right away, along with $235 request filing fee and then $250 late assessment fee. What a crock!!! If the person(s) are reading this,why don’t you go and get an honest job. What is our State government doing to apprehend these jerks!!!.
I just wanted to tell all of you… that I filled my form out…. just for for a laugh… with erroneous info on it. And I signed it R. Sole. Not my real name of course… Then I mailed it back to them…..
Thank you for posting! When I googled the infromation, this was the first result and you saved us lots of time and energy tryng to figure out what/why they wanted money from us. Thank you, again!
Amanda
You saved us lots of time, energy and $$$!
Thank you for posting this site!
We just received a letter in the mail and we were about to call them but no # was listed!
Thank you so much for posting this site!
Face Studios Inc.
You confirmed me that it was a fraud!
Thank you for posting.
Amazing that the federal don’t step right away to their office.
We got wise to this scam a few years ago. I will be filing a complaint as well. It really tees me off that so much valuable time is wasted by all of us trying to figure out whether an offical looking document is a scam or not. It’s hard enough to wade through legitimate California and Federal filing requirements.
Thanks for this forum.
stupid of me sent the form and the check back in September, they cash the check right away i just notice today it was scam, thanks to this website i wont sent the other ones for other business, and i did my complaint too.
thanks again.
Just got off the phone with these clowns. The gal there was bumbling and finally hung up on me when I called them out. Maybe it’s not illegal however, this is a very shady tactic. They are clearly posing as a government agency. The acronym pretty much sums up their business practices: “BFD”.
BTW, they will probably be doing loan modifications after they get shut down…
I just received one for our homeowners association. Since I have no experience running a homeowners association, I almost panic because of the due date and possible penalties. Good thing I Googled and found this so now I don’t have to worry. I had initially had a bad feeling because there was no contact number on the form.
I have received the same mail from BUSINESS FILINGS DIVISION third time, and it seems these crooks got all the corporation info. and trying to forge some amount on the name of State Govt. I am wondering why State corporate division in not taking any action against them and they keep on doing these forgery……….
Thanks for providing the info.on web and help out the people.
Bless the internet! I just received one, $235 in 8 days, … I had to read it twice and search to trust my sense of scam. Tipoff was the ‘not a government agency’ sentence woven into the legal citation. And that we’ve never been asked for this kind of fee. I wondered, since California is so hard up for income, if I’d missed some legislative change. And now that I’m typing, another tipoff would be the immediate deadline.
Thanks for providing a complaint link; I completed that too.
I’d be really interested in learning how much they are making. I’m not sure of the illegality, since they will, I’m sure, file updated information on corporate principals. I wonder if they have a public income tax return!
As Brian said:
“TO FILL A COMPLAINT with the CA Dept of Justice USE this link:
http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL
It only takes a few minutes. Maybe it will shut them down!”
I just filed my complaint and it was quick and easy…
I just received one also, and sent a check yesterday($239), then received another one today from Annual Filing Division($195). The previous one was from Business Filing Division. They fooled me, but after another one I got this site and run to my bank to stop a payment. I called them also, and after talking to them realized that it’s total scam. Thanks to this site, I did not lose my money.
Should we call BBB?
Thank you for the information!!My Boss just received one in the mail again and she told me that she has been paying them for the last two years. I read the letter and it seemed very suspicious to me. I went online and I read your NOTE. Thank you very much. We will definitely take further action against this company. We need to stop people like that as soon as possible….
I work as a contractor for a couple of companies and this is the second time I have received this request. I just received one for each company, back to back,and I have decided that I will “Return to Sender” and let them pay for the postage again. I also called their office and all I got was recording after recording and then “leave a message and we will call you back”
Just how unethical can some people be? I urge that others that have received this mailing contact the District Attorney – Sacramento @ 916-874 6218 (prompt -0-)and you will be able to leave a v/mail for one of their investigators to get back to you. The more complaints lodged the better.
Also contact the Better Business Bureau(W. Sacramento) @ 916-443 6843.
I almost sent check to them.
Thanks very much for providing the info.on web and help out the people.
Is Secretary of State or State corporate division taking any action against these people? Are they prosecuted? Is the use of US Post mail or use of Federal organizations name not Federal Crime???
Just got this notice myself this week. I manage the HOA for our building, and I sat down this evening to take care of this thinking it was one of the required state business filings. When I found the fee of $235 indicated, I got suspicious and started reading the form carefully. The first thing that tipped me off was the lack of an official form number, which every government form seems to have, so then I Googled this and found this board. Thanks to everyone who posted here.
I am concerned, however, that this company/fraud still seems to be going strong. This apparently started over three months ago, and the links and phone numbers to log complaints are listed last month. I filed a complaint myself with the State Attorney. Hopefully these guys get shut down.
Read article “State accuses 8 in L.A. area of scams targeting small firms” [L.A. Times --Business Section dd Oct 09,'09]. California attorney general’s office appears to have taken action to nail these guys!
I also received a late notice from Business Filings Division. I did file very late to the Secretary of State, and probably made the deadline by a day for my LLC. Five days later, I received a notice warning me of a Penalty, and asked me to send $239.00. A few clues got my suspicion up: One line at the end of the letter stating, “THIS PRODUCT OR SERVICE HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED OR ENDORSED BY ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY, AND THIS OFFER IS NOT BEING MADE BY AN AGENCY OF THE GOVERNMENT.”; the fact that there is zero contact information on the letter itself; and the fact that the “government” responded within 5 days of my deadline. Also, the letter is formatted and designed to deceive unsuspecting business owners by making it appear like a legal document being sent from Sacramento, California. The Government needs to put these guys out of business!
From the LA Times article dated 10/09/09:
“One suit named as defendants George Alan Miller and Rebecca Miller of Valencia, and Arghisti Keshishyan and Kristina Keshishyan of Glendale. They allegedly ran Burbank companies Annual Review Board Inc., Business Filings Division and Corpfilers.com, which also were named as defendants.
In another suit, the defendants were Maria Jones and James Jones of Porter Ranch and their companies, Corporate Filings Division in Studio City and Corporate Compliance Filings Inc. in Woodland Hills.
The third suit names as defendants Anthony Williams and Helena Martell-Williams, who operated Eneque Inc., which has done business under the name Compliance Annual Minutes Board in Temecula.”
They are also targeting Nevada LLCs
The California SOS website has a whole page dedicated to this fraud:
If you have received a solicitation letter that seems misleading or confusing, please contact the California Attorney General’s office at the California Department of Justice, Public Inquiry Unit, P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, California 94244-2550 or through the California Attorney General’s website at http://www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php. The telephone number for the Public Inquiry Unit is (800) 952-5225 (toll free in California) or (916) 322-3360.
I can’t believe I almost fell for this too! They sent me a letter with “You will become SUSPENDED and will not have the right to conduct business”. I was close to writing out the check when I could not find Business Filings Division in my quickbooks…THANKS TO THIS BLOG…I saved myself $235.00.
My is addressed from 1215 K Street Sacrament, doesn’t look quite right. Annual Filing Division. Another scam.
Today I received another scam notice – the time from “Annual Filing Division.” This time they want $195.00. I will also report this to the Attorney General.
This really pissed me off, I hate scammers!!! I am report this to the state attorney’s office, the document looks too official and it did not take me long to realize it was a SCAM, I already filed my statement of information for $25 directly with the state. I used legalzoom to register my LLC and they wanted to charge me somewhere around $35-50 to file the SOI which included the statement fee but I did it myself from reading the state of CA’s website.
Anyways what pisses me off the most about this SCAMMER is the fact that they are trying to take advantage of new businesses during a recession. They should burn in hell, what a shameful act.
I’ve received this for years now, always knew it’s fraud; However, for every person who was wise enough to recognize it was a scam, how many people fell for the scame? Probably 20 victims for each savvy contributor on this thread? They must be reaping in money with a rake!! It’s sad to see the government doesn’t crack down FAST on fraud in this country. There should be a zero-tolerance for white-collar crime, but the government doesn’t seem to care much for such crime… isn’t it!
Well just got my scam letter after being out of town for the last week….Knowing I already sent my “Statement of Info” to the Secreatary of State in Jan. for 25.00 as I have for the past ll years, I wondered what is this???? Maybe CA needs more money in this economic crisis and has come up with a Businsess Filing Div. asking for the exact same info. the Sec. of State ask’s for and charging $235.00. Until I started reading the fine print and realize they weren’t endorsed by any government agency, and the bogus claims on the back along with fact there was no phone number. I said what a joke…Need to go to the internet and find out what’s happening….Nice Logo!
Wow. I just received the letter today. I had it all filled out and ready to go but thought it was weird how it had “THIS PRODUCT OR SERVICE HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED OR ENDORSED BY ANY GOVERNMENT AGENCY, AND THIS OFFER IS NOT BEING MADE BY AN AGENCYOF THE GOVERNMENT.” They actually made a typo.. AGENCYOF.. stuck out to me like a sore thumb. I found this page and read what people wrote. Annual Filing Division, Payment: $195. Failure to file may result in the assessment of a 250.00 penalty…
The address on the bottom is:
1215 K Street, 17th floor Sacramento CA 95814
9169933195
I actually was 100 percent sure it was a fraud by calling the number on my paper.. and then calling the same numbers listed by people on this page. SAME RECORDING! That’s when I knew FOR SURE.
I was fooled and were it not for the amount (hardly a filing fee size) might have sent it in. thanks for setting up this site!
Yup! I just got 2. One from the “Annual Filing Division” and one from the “Business Filing Division”. LOL, they almost got me! I don’t think my new boss would have liked me sending out that much money. I do agree though, nice job on the logos….LOL
Also too, if you google map the address on the return envelope….it is real, but all of the addresses there use Suites, not Floor numbers (hello, it’s Sacramento not NY). So, it could LOOK legitimate to someone who doesn’t take the extra step to dig deep enough to validate it or not.
I got one recently from the “Annual Filing Division” asking for $195. CA really needs to put a stop to this.
I got one of these. I tried calling them to give them a piece of my mind for wasting 30 minutes of my valuable time trying to figure out what it was all about(916-903-5355), but you only get a recording, and you can’t leave a message.
Received two in one week. Spoke with person at AG office in Sacto, she said they are filing suit against the parties and asked that I FAX what I received to their office.
916-323-5341
I just got two asking for $239.00 each….I’m in California who are these people?
The same people have a new name… Annual Filing Division. Same scam just a new name. Thanks for keeping other posted on this scam.
To those who paid already, good news. You may just get your money back!
http://ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/print_release.php?id=1817
I just got one of these in the mail, I knew the seal was not an official California
Seal. also, there is no contact phone number. Thanks for posting this scam. Be careful and keep informed.
well I feel like a sucker
I Have 7 LLC’s and paid the fee to Business Filings Division on all LLC’s then only became suspicious when I got the same bill for Aunual Filing Division
I am pissed!
I am going to find the person in charge of this scam and get in thier face!
I ALMOST fell for this and sent a check for my bosses company. He would have killed me had I not gotten suspicious over the seal at the top of the page and “this is not a government form”. I called Business Filings Division at
916-903-5355
Pressed 1 for Corp, press 2 for LLC
Select 1 for the option for more help on filing.
Select 2 for help filling out form
Then, press 0 to speak with someone.
Ask for Michael, and have your name/company removed from their mailing list.
I of course got a machine, but I will be keeping this number and calling till I am removed. THANK YOU for posting this – I hate being taken!
I have a new name for BFD!
My client just received this form, It looked suspicious, there is no phone number and i do not any goverment agency will not have the phone number. My client was going to send the check, i decided to google it and so glad it saved him 235.00
Thank you so much for having this on your website. I wasted an hour trying to call the Secretary of State thinking that somehow I was remiss. I got suspicious because it was such a large sum of $235 and it was due on October 15th when I just received it yesterday on October 13th. I took it seriously because it looks so official with the seal and direct CA govt language. I went online and saw that my filings were all current. This is absolutely a waste of everyone’s time. How can we put them out of business!!!!
These guys need to be put out of business. I have paid them twice.
Thanks for this important info. I just got mine to pay 235.00 by Oct. 15th. I was looking for a phone number and discovered its not from a legit place. I looked on line and found you. smile. Glad I checked as we are a non profit org and I have to protect my Deaf and Hearing Group.
What is wrong with this world? People trying to hurt people. Shame on them.
Thank God that there are also some good people like you to inform us of those idiots.
M-E
I just got the exact same thing from the Annual Filing Division. I was very suspicious, but found the following statement on the back of the form, and in ALL CAPS:
THIS IS A SALUTATION FOR THE ORDER OF SERVICE, AND NOT A BILL, INVOICE OR STATEMENT DUE. NO OBLIGATION TO MAKE ANY PAYMENTS UNLESS YOU ACCEPT THIS OFFER.
Oh, by the way, what raised my suspicion in the first place is … geez, I’m embarrassed to say this … I got the EXACT same thing back in August (just two months ago) asking for payment. And that time I paid … there goes $239 down the drain.
Good news, State of California just sued these scam artists:
http://zedomax.biz/blog/shitlist/business-filings-division-and-annual-filings-division-scam-artists-caught-and-sued/