Victim Location 99338
Type of a scam Counterfeit Product
5 days after registering my LLC with the state of Washington, I received a very official looking notice in the mail stating that I had one more step to complete. The letter had my business name, address, UBI number, and date of registration. The letter also had a “RESPOND BY” date less than two weeks away giving a sense of urgency to the letter. I found a warning about such letters on the Washington Secretary of State website. I called the number on the letter and spoke with a very pleasant woman who assured me she worked for a legitimate company and that this was not a scam. When questioned, she confirmed that I could get the same certificate from the Secretary of State for $20 instead of the $82.50 charged by her company. She didn’t see what her company is doing as misleading but also stated that she had no control over what her “higher-ups” chose to do.
Victim Location 98177
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
Their form looks SO official. I got this scam in the mail literally 3 days after I was notified of my LLC formation. What the heck would I know about certificates of status? I mailed the form and check, like a good little rule follower, only to find out after digging on the WA Sec of State web site that this was a SCAM. Why not include that info in the formation packet? This has clearly been going on for quite some time.
Now I will question every single bit of mail related to my new LLC. What a hassle. AND, I’m out the stop payment fee from my bank, so there’s no winning here.
Trust nothing and save yourself some pain.
Victim Location 99223
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
After filing with the state of WA for a LLC, I received an "invoice" from WA Certificate Service for $82.50. I googled the business name and found it to be a SCAM. Verifying their address shows it to be Wandering Mail Services in the Pike Place Market which is a front for their scam (post office box only.) Beware!
Victim Location 98122
Type of a scam Fake Invoice/Supplier Bill
I attached an image of the scam letter.
Victim Location 98926
Type of a scam Counterfeit Product
After registering my business name with the secretary of state, I received in the mail a form stating that I needed to pay another fee to complete the last step in this process. It stated that I needed to pay a fee of 8250 to confirm accuracy of information about my business and receive a Washington certificate of status. There is in very small print Under the fee a statement saying this is not a government agency. Upon further research it appears that the physical address of this company is actually a virtual office. I also went to the Secretary of State’s website and found an example of this letter as being a misleading form. The actual fee to obtain a certificate of status is $20 for regular processing. If I had not gone to the trouble to do extra research as a new business owner I may have sent in this fee unnecessarily. The form is very misleading. I would like to help prevent others from being drawn into this scam.
Victim Location 98077
Total money lost $82.50
Type of a scam Phishing
I was starting an LLC in WA state, this scammer sent official looking form requesting $82.50 for a "Certificate of Status" from the Secretary of State. The Wa L&I office said it was a scam, the fake document I received in the mail was from a Florida zip code: 33713
Victim Location 98121
Type of a scam Phishing
Pretending to be Washington state government to collect business certificate fee.