Companies overcharging for items that are free, or a fraction of the demanded price
SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson is alerting Washingtonians to scammers targeting new business owners, sending hundreds of thousands of deceptive letters into the state. The letters deceptively appear to originate from the government, and demand payment for documents that should be free, or are available for a much lower price from the legitimate agency. About 15,000 Washington businesses have already fallen victim, paying more than $1.2 million.
Any Washingtonians who received letters from WA Certificate Service or Labor Poster Compliance asking them to pay for either a Certificate of Status, Certificate of Existence, or “labor law poster” should contact the Attorney General’s Office immediately.
You can file a complaint online at atg.wa.gov/file-complaint or call the office toll-free at 1-800-551-4636.
The Attorney General’s Office already received more than 90 complaints about the letters.
One business owner wrote: “When I got back from vacation for Christmas, I had a letter in my mailbox from this organization, stating that I needed to submit payment for a certificate by 1/3/2020. I (stupidly) filled out the form and sent the payment without checking its validity. Only after the fact did I look on the [Secretary of State] corporations site to find out this is a full-fledged SCAM.”
“My office is seeking to put a stop to these scammers and get Washington business…
