We frequently get questions from our clients about requests for payment of registration, publication or renewal fees for corporate, domain name and intellectual property filings. Requests may also be received for monitoring fees or the preparation of minutes.
The scam requests typically look like invoices or letters, often containing false due dates or threats about loss of rights if you do not send payment now.
Sometimes the filings and services mentioned in these communications are completely unnecessary. If the filings or services are required, the price offered by the scammer is often exorbitant, or the services offered by the scammer are insufficient to satisfy legal requirements.
We recently received a notice from the Oregon Corporation Division about newly-formed Oregon businesses receiving a solicitation from OR Certificate Services offering a Certificate of Standing/Existence for $77.25. The Corporation Division notes that, “Many businesses do not need this certificate. Those that do may obtain one directly from Secretary of State for $10.”
Scams can be hard to identify, because scammers often use names and logos that are similar to official state and federal agencies. Even the envelopes contain language designed to make you believe you’re holding an official communication.
Unfortunately, it’s easy for scammers to obtain enough specific information about your company, URL or intellectual property to appear to be real government offices and registries.
Filings are often publicly available online, and they typically contain the contact information of the owner of the business, URL or intellectual property, as well as relevant dates.
This means you must be extremely careful when you receive any type of request for payment. You shouldn’t, however, simply throw away requests you’re not sure about, since they may actually be from a government office or official registry. In that event, ignoring the request may lead to loss of your rights.
If you’re not sure about a particular notice, you can do an Internet search for more information about that request.
More information about some common scams appears below.
Domain Names.
Many of our clients have received notifications from a purported domain name company (typically located in either Asia or Eastern Europe) asking permission for another company to obtain a domain name that is virtually identical to the client’s domain name or trademark. Alternatively, the notification may ask whether the client has already authorized the other company to register the domain name.
If the client responds that the off-shore company’s use of the proposed domain is unacceptable, the scammer says the only way to prevent the domain name from being sold to the off-shore company is for the client to buy the domain name for a higher than normal fee.
Business Filings.
Sometimes a scammer indicates that it’s monitoring your company’s corporate or business license filings. Although the notices may look like formal government documents, they’re not.
The scammer will offer to assist you in renewing your registrations or preparing meeting minutes that don’t contain all relevant information for fees that are much higher than normal.
Trademarks.
Some of our clients have received “important notifications” from companies offering to monitor or renew their trademarks and/or record their trademark registrations with US Customs & Border Protection.
This problem has become so pervasive that the Trademark Office actually has an alert on its website listing known scams.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) also maintains a list of scams.
IRS
Scammers are making phone calls, sending letters and even showing up at people’s homes demanding payments allegedly for taxes owed the IRS. The IRS website provides information on how to determine whether it’s really the IRS contacting you as well as descriptions of known scams.
Law Enforcement
The warrant scam has recently become more common. Victims are told that they are connected to a criminal investigation and that there is a warrant out for their arrest. The caller will probably know your name and may even use actual names of police officers or sheriff’s deputies in your jurisdiction.
In a recent warrant scam in Clackamas County, Oregon, the scammer told the victim that for a one-time payment of $5000, the charges could be dropped. The victim was told to buy $5,000 worth of gift cards and to call back with the card numbers and security codes.
Legitimate law enforcement agencies will never ask for payment via gift cards, refillable credit cards or wire transfer. Scammers prefer these types of payments because they are nearly impossible to trace.
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Carefully read any letter or notice you receive. Scam notices often say outright that they are not official government notices. For example, one we received recently states “The documents offered by this advertisement are available to Oregon consumers for a lesser price from sos.oregon.gov…. The item offered in this advertisement has NOT been approved or endorsed by any governmental agency, and this offer is NOT being made by an agency of the government.”
If, after reading the letter or notice, you still can’t tell if it’s real, please feel free to contact us for assistance.
