I realized I was scammed. It’s just a piece of paper with a fake notary ! How do I go about a refund?!
I wrote away for my Certificate and spoke to a guy names Kevin, and guy named Jesse, and and unnamed girl. Kevin on 3 different occasions said he mailed the certificate out which was a red flag since I never received it and have never had a problem receiving my mail. When I asked Kevin who his supervisor was he told me that he was the supervisor- that they were short on staff. He also gave me a government phone number and said that they could email me me my certificate. When I google searched Kevin’s name and nothing came up I realized this was a scam. This is a fraudulent company and a complete scam. They are pretending to be the state of NY and giving you the state’s phone number when you don’t receive your certificate. I am including a photo of the letter I received in the mail.
Victim Location 11230
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
The letter asks you to submit $87.25 in order to receive a NY Certificate of Status, which "shows the official evidence of an entity’s existence." I was highly suspicious of the letter, even though it appears as if it came from a NYS official government agency. The wording of the letter implies that this Certificate is mandatory, and is the only document that can "show the official evidence of an entity’s existence." I did my own research and came across a Yelp page that listed others that had received the same scam mail. Furthermore, for a small business, I don’t really need this Certificate except when asking for loans; in addition, it costs $25 to request the Certificate directly from the NYS DOS website.
Victim Location 12206
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
This company aims to target newly incorporated businesses in NY State by claiming that this request form can be submitted (along with $87.25) in order to receive a service relating to receiving a Certificate of Good Standing with raised seal. The request form is misleading. The only way to receive a certificate of good standing with a raised seal, is to order directly from the NY State governmental office, for a fee of only $25. Please do not waste your money and fall for this scam. I am so glad that I did some research before sending in my money!
BEWARE!
Victim Location 11778
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
After starting an LLC Business, this company impersonated a State of New York agency. Staying that the "Certificate" they were sending would bear the Official seal of the State of New York and would be evidence that my company is registered with the State of New York. The cost would be $87.25. One would think this is a requirement to having a business … in very small print there is mention "this is not a government agency"
Victim Location 12418
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
I received a suspicious looking letter informing me that I needed to order a New York State Certificate of Status, in relation to my new LLC. The fee for this is $87.25 – and there is ONE word in the document – "elective" – that tipped me off to this deliberately misleading letter.
Victim Location 11040
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
Letter appearing to be official from NY State and trying to deceive into sending $87.25 for a Certificate of Status. The only tell was in very small print stating "This is not a government agency".
Victim Location 11561
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
Received letter from company asking for $87.25 for a Certificate os status. sent it to my Accountant and he said it was a scam. Wrote to the Secretary of State of New York and awaiting word from Her.
was any action able to be taken? is there a way to reach out to this Company? I fell for it.
Victim Location 14865
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
Scam claims to be last step necessary "to attain effective New York Certificate of Status."
Requests check or M.O. for $87.25.
It is sent to new businesses who are on record as registering a new company and is NOT a necessary step and is NOT from an official government agency.
Victim Location 10013
Total money lost $87.25
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
Completely unnecessary and fraud.
I have called them repeatedly to get my money back, they have refused to call me back and return my money. When I call, they hang up on me many times. Ironically, I have never received the certificate of which the letter originally advertised.
They have no company website, no email addresses. They state it’s a family owned company with three people: Royce, Keven and Jessie.
how can such a company not be confronted by the law? if its a scam, which it is, how does one get this company to be dismantled?
Victim Location 11746
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
This was a piece of mail specifically disguised as though it came from a NY state government agency, with a due date of a few days from the receipt of the mail, so that the victim would pay this company to receive a certificate of service for their business. This certificate is not required, however the mail is intended to make the business owner feel that this is urgent and needs to be purchased for their business. The certificate of service, or good standing, is an optional certificate, that can be obtained from the state of New York for no more than 25$. This impostor is demanding 87.25$ for the same document, and who knows if they would even send the document in the end. In very small font, it does state that this is not a government agency, however everything about the letter is intended to make the recipient believe that because this is from Albany and the name of the company is NY Certificate Service, with a document number and an in depth description of why the document is required. Then text of the letter speaks as though they are representing the state by stating that the business has been registered and the articles have been filed- they reference the New York Secretary of State and the official seal of the state of New York. This is a misleading and deceptive business practice at the least, and could be constituted as fraud in some respects. I will provide the document itself I just don’t want to reveal any identifying information publicly in the letter I.e. my address and business name. Thanks