By Miami Trust Attorney Phillip B. Rarick, Esq.
Last year I reminded you of a state-wide corporate scam called Compliance Services. Well, they are at it again!
Recently (approximately January 7-11, 2013) you may have received a letter that looks like an “official” letter from the state of Florida by a company called Corporate Records Service, or an email from a company called Compliance Services (not to be confused with the Florida corporation, Compliance Services, Inc.) asking for a fee of $125 for corporate minutes. BEWARE. This is a scam. These notices are not from the Department of State, Division of Corporations. Minutes are not required to be posted with the Florida Secretary of State. Rather, they should be prepared and filed in your corporate book.
This company is trying to masquerade as a Florida government agency and scam you out of $125. The state of Florida has a rather lame notice on its website warning you about this company, but for some reason, the state Attorney General has not been able to shut it down.
Such scam letters should not be confused with notices from the Department of State, Division of Corporations reminding each business entity to file its Annual Report. Note: These Annual Report notices are sent by the state of Florida in early January via email. Such notices from the Florida State Division of Corporations are legitimate and not to be ignored.
Second, while not a scam, there is a web site that can easily confuse you and trick you into paying extra money for filing your annual report. The “trick” site is sunbiz.com; the official web site for the state of Florida is www.sunbiz.org. Avoid sunbiz.com.
South Florida is the epicenter for scams of all kinds – some of the most creative in the world! If you see a scam, or what looks like one, send me an email at prarick@raricklaw.com and we will research it; if it is a scam we will endeavor to alert our clients and readers.
Your questions or comments are always welcome.
Sincerely,
Phillip B. Rarick, Esq.