Attention: Beware of Corporate Compliance Form Hoax Circulating in Ohio

There is an interesting, urgent, and disturbing article posted at Cleveland.com (the official website of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer) today by Sheryl Harris. The article details a hoax that is being perpetrated upon Ohio business owners in the form of an “Annual Corporate Compliance Form”.

The form is an “official-looking mailer” that warns business owners that Ohio state law requires annual corporate meetings, and that they (the business owner) “may not be in compliance.” Nefariously, the mailer then suggests that the business owner fill out an enclosed application and send $150 to create a “‘paper trail’ that would be handy if creditors, suppliers, the IRS or anyone else came calling.”

According to Ohio state officials, the corporate compliance form is not legitimate.

“It’s deceptive,” said Cleveland attorney and CPA Brian Ruschel, who forwarded a copy that a client received.

Not all companies are required to have annual meetings, he pointed out, and even if they were, filling out a form wouldn’t create compliance. Shareholder names, he added, aren’t normally public.

Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner posted a notice on her Web site saying her office isn’t affiliated with the letter.

The letter cites “Corporation Code Section 624,” but secretary of state’s spokesman Kevin Kidder said, “That’s not Ohio law. . . . I’m not sure where that’s from.”

The address on the letter leads to a UPS Store in Columbus.

Follow the link to read the full article about the corporate compliance form hoax in Ohio.

Also included in Ms. Harris’ article are details about another warning being issued to Ohio business owners, this one from the Ohio Better Business Bureau. The BBB is suggesting that companies be wary of anyone offering “free” advice about how to receive government stimulus money. According to the article, the FTC says such a promise of stimulus money, usually in return for a fee or financial information, is always a scam.

Right after Congress passed the federal stimulus plan, the BBB said, Web searches for the word “stimulus” returned sponsored links to sites like officialstimuluschecks.com and ObamaStimulusGrant.net.

Ads include testimonials that make it sound like consumers can claim stimulus money now, but some consumers who responded to offers of free information were charged up to $69.95 a month on their credit cards.

Additionally, the BBB said, ads on Face book directed the public to Web sites set up to look like blogs by people sharing the secret of how they got government money to pay off their debts.

While this article applies specifically to Ohio, there are no doubt “enterprising minds” in other states cooking up similar scams. Putting a few quick and systems in place should help mitigate the potential negative impact of such miscreants:

1. Obviously, do not provide financial information to anyone you do not know or do not trust.
2. Contact officials in your state regarding any “official” correspondence that suggests you may not be in compliance with a cited rule or statute. The rule may not be a rule at all, and certainly the suggested remedy could be nothing more a deceptive way to steal a quick buck.
3. Be wary of any correspondence from third party sources that you do not have a previous relationship with. Perform due diligence before taking action on anything contained within said correspondence.

Let’s hope that issues such as these are relegated just to Ohio, and quickly stopped. But in the interests of avoiding such naivete, be on the lookout and have your guard up for such hoaxes, and be prudent in your reaction and response.

Update: Based on some of the comments and emails we have been receiving, many CCI readers are receiving the scam forms from Compliance Services. Your best course of action if you receive these forms is to notify the Secretary of State’s Office in your state. If you need help getting the right contact information, drop us a quick note and we will help direct you.

Tags: compliance hoax, ftc