Scam? Spam? Both? I got some snail mail today from an organization calling themselves "Corporate Controllers Unit" or the initials "CCU" offering a very expensive service: for the low low fee of $225 per year they will file my company's annual report with the state where I do business.
This report costs me about 10 minutes of time and a $10 fee when I file directly with the state.
The envelope looks like an official mailing. So does the letter inside, filled with legalese threatening dire things unless you file on time. Thankfully the fine print at the very bottom lets you know it's "just" a solicitation.
Couple of other clues. The organization uses a PO Box. A search on the web does not find any contact info, but it does bring up about six pages of the same couple of articles touting their service via spam blogs. Someone hired a blackhat SEO agent to market their stuff.
My advice: save your money and your sanity. Companies should file directly with the state as they have in the past.
My suspicion: this might be an attempt to steal your companies ID.
Update: This smells more like a scam the more I don't see . . . let me explain:
I cannot find anything on this company at all, other than the aforementioned spam blogs re-posting the same few articles over and over. No contact info, no phone, no web site, just the PO Box. And I think my Google-Fu is pretty darn good, thank you. If it was out there, I would have found it by now.
Other than the comments below, I've gotten calls from two of my clients and one of my business partners asking my opinion - they also received one of these in the mail today.
Update 2: Remember I said 6 pages of search results? That was 4 hours ago. Something fishy is up, because the returned results as of this update (8:30 PM Saturday night) presents over 29 pages now, and except for this blog the results are all the same couple of articles over and over on different odd domain sites.
Update 3: Denver Channel 9 posted this article at 7:27 AM MDT Monday April 4.
State warns of potentially misleading letters (from Corporate Controllers Unit)
Update 4: Denver Post finally listed an article with more information, including a quote from the Attorney General that this is most likely a scam.
"Gessler warns businesses, non-profits of "deceptive mail solicitation" (from Corporate Controllers Unit)
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I received the same fake legal document in the mail today and for $225 Corporate Controllers Unit will file a periodic annual report for my organization with the State of Colorado -- a report I filed for my organization on-line in 10 minutes for $10. This is an attempt to use a legal-appearing document to scare people into paying so-called professionals way more than necessary to do something individuals can do themselves. Call the Secretary of State to learn how and save your money.
ReplyDeleteI just received this as well and it was only when I read the bottom of the letter that I realized this was a scam as well. Thanks for posting this and confirming my suspicions.
ReplyDeleteJust recieved the same doc in the mail today and my red flags went up immediately. Googled out of curiousity and found your posting among the articles. Can't imagine paying anyone to file the annual report and I suspect at the very least it's a scam. I looked them up on the Secretary of State website. Foreign corp based in Nevada and address for service is a virtual office place downtown.
ReplyDelete@Lisa: Good sleuthing! I missed the virtual office, (just found the PO Box).
ReplyDeleteI've got 8 companies in Colorado and got six of these letters in the mail today (April 2nd). I figure I'll get the other two on Monday. Looks like these guys are basically trying to take the entire business community in Colorado in one shot. Since I'm a member of both the WestChamber and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, I'm planning a couple quick call about these guys to their desks first thing Monday morning and see if the word can get quickly out to the news media on this one before a bunch of small businesspeople are taken in by this crap.
ReplyDeleteJust left some phone messages with some key folks at the WestChamber and Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce on these guys. They hopefully will get those phone message first thing Monday morning and get the news media alerted soon thereafter.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this note, and (Roger) for following up with the Chamber of Commerce. I e-mailed the Secretary of State's business division to let them know what was happening. Perhaps they can post a warning on their business page.
ReplyDeleteI received this nonsense over the weekend. Of course it's a scam and a phishing attempt. I've filed my LLC's annual report every year on time for ten years. Why should this year be different from any other years.
ReplyDeleteI called the Secretary of State's office this morning. I expressed my concerns about fraud. I was told the SOS has received hundreds of e-mails and their phone lines are backed up. I was told the SOS may put out a news release soon. Channel 9 ran a story on this scam Sunday night.
My company has been out of business for two years when I received this scam request, so I knew it was bogus. It sure does sound official though. Clearly they are simply using the state registry of businesses to obtain addresses to spam
ReplyDeleteWe just received one too. Thank you, everyone for posting about this scam.
ReplyDeleteI hope these crooks get caught. SCAM!
ReplyDeleteI guess this is why we are all here at your blog reading and posting comments - official looking scam letters to suck the life out of your corporate dollars! Is there nothing that can be done about solicitor mail looking official? I was just about to call CO SoS and give them an earful about raising their fee so high and then I remembered, "Oh yeah, I have their OFFICIAL postcard sitting in my pending pile and sure enough, still $10 - best rate still in the continental US. No nasty phone call from me this year!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I agree - this crap needs to be stopped!
ID Number: 20111040376
ReplyDeleteName: CORPORATE CONTROLLERS UNIT, INC
Registered Agent: MAXIM KITAEV
Registered Agent Street Address: 600 17th st., Suite 2800 South, DENVER, CO 80202, United States
Registered Agent Mailing Address:
Principal Street Address: 600 17th st., Suite 2800 South, Denver, CO 80202, United States
Principal Mailing Address:
Status: Good Standing
Form: Foreign Corporation
Jurisdiction: NEVADA
Formation Date: 01/20/2011
Periodic Report Month: January