Scam/Spam or Real Mail?
Blog by: Office Manager Heather Harteis
As soon as your LLC is officially in the state’s database of business entities, you are also searchable in that database. There are some folks who scan this database and send mail in effort to drum up business for themselves. Unfortunately, their mailings are so misleading that the OR Secretary of State’s office regularly issues warnings to business owners like yourself: please read carefully.
Keep reading for resources and information to help tell the difference between real mail from the Oregon Secretary of State, and random trash mail that is trying to take your money.
How to Tell if Mail is coming from the Oregon Secretary of State?
Look for the Seal of Oregon, and “Secretary of State Corporation Division” as signs the mailing is likely legitimate. The mailing address should be Salem, Oregon.
Is your business registered in another state?
You will still look for similar clues: look for the words “Secretary of State” with an official seal, and a return address in the state capitol.
For Washington’s seal, view the top corner of this webpage: https://www.sos.wa.gov/corporations-charities
For California’s seal, look here: https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/
How much does it cost to renew my LLC annually in Oregon?
Some junk mail will be providing a service for something you can do yourself for cheaper: filing the annual report to renew your LLC. The required state fee for an Oregon corporation or limited liability company (LLC) annual report is $100, not $175 or $185. Every business can file their own annual report online simply and easily in just a few minutes without paying extra fees online at the state’s website: https://secure.sos.state.or.us/cbrbr/renewal.action#stay
What Common Junk Mail should I watch out for?
Start here with the current list of alerts from Oregon Secretary of State: https://sos.oregon.gov/business/Pages/business-alert.aspx
City of Portland has this alert: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/revenue/article/751984
Here is a list of misleading mail alerts from Washington state:
https://www.sos.wa.gov/about-office/news/2022/misleading-notices-businesses
Here is a page for California Secretary of State: https://www.sos.ca.gov/business-programs/customer-alerts
Some companies that are currently sending these crappy pieces of mail include:
Personnel Concepts / PCI
Workplace Compliance Services or C.P.S
OR Certificate Services
Secures Business Registration
Filling Labor Compliance Services
Corporate Regulatory Committee
Other suspicious topics: employment posters, Annual Report Instruction Form or the State Annual Report Renewal Notice, Assumed Business Name Renewal Service, National Business Registration, National Corporation Registry. When in doubt: Google the company name in the return address to see if it has been reported as a scam, or email us a photo of the mailing.
Here is an example of one piece of mail that business owners have been receiving:
https://sos.oregon.gov/business/Pages/dont-be-misled.aspx
Federal Trademarks also receive spam mailings of various types.
If you have submitted a trademark application or copyright registration for your business’s intellectual property, you may also receive mailings that are junk offers.
See examples of these and read more from the United States Patent & Trademark office here: https://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/protect/caution-misleading-notices
If you want to view example photos of some of these misleading mailings, click here: https://www.wipo.int/pct/en/warning/pct_warning.html
To all of our clients:
If you are ever unsure if a mailing is valid or not, you can email Heather with a copy of the mailing and ask her. :)