Department Of Business Minutes

[bugmenot3]

Received in the mail the other day an envelope from the "Department Of Business Minutes". At the top of the paper written in bold lettering "NOW DUE" and "Filing fee: $125".

I own a business that is formed as an LLC in CA. I know for a fact that I do not need to file any minutes for my LLC. I am guessing that THOMAS BROCKWAY, acting as the DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MINUTES purchased a mailing list containing listings of corporations in California, maybe even other states. Our business is only 1 year old, so this may be targeted at new businesses.

THIS IS A SCAM - DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY TO THIS FAKE AGENCY


THE SCAM SCENARIO
The assumption here is that this letter is notification from a government agency that some fee to the state for my corporation is now over due.

Mailing Address listed on reply envelope
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MINUTES
4470 W. Sunset Blvd. #380
Los Angeles, CA 90027

A quick check of the address shows up as UPS store [link] on Sunset blvd in Los Angeles, CA. I did not personally visit the address but I would guess this is a PO BOX at the UPS store.

After checking for the business name "Department Of Business Minutes", I found a fictious business name filing with a local paper [link].

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS MINUTES THOMAS BROCKWAY 13659 VICTORY BLVD 590 VAN NUYS 91401 13-Nov-08

[montanabrowneeury]

I, too have just received this letter requesting 125.00 for minutes my California LLC does not need. Mine is 4 years old so I am not sure if they are just getting new LLCs or what. It sure looked official, but there is no reference to the Secretary of State and in fine print it says it is not government related.
Go figure! I bet this guy is actually making $$$$ from people who can't read the entire document!

[Nothings ever easy]

Just got my scam letter today, exactly like the above. I guess there are a lot of clerks who just pay off on legitimate looking invoices, probably separated from the envelope. The first clue is the postal "presorted mail" stamp. My LLC is 3 years old.

[steverifs]

Man o' man. I have to thank you. I thought this thing was pretty fishy. Yours was the first hit at the top of Google. Great research, great scan, great posting. Thank you.

[master_chief_2007]

I got the same letter albeit the address is different:
D O B M
PO Box 41227
Los Angeles, CA, 90041

When I read the fine print and it stated - "This product or service has not been approved or endorsed by any government agency....." an alarm went off!

And it is going to a PO Box. I dont know of any govt agency which works out of a PO Box!

Thanks all for posting this!!
Department of Business Minutes .... my ^%^!!

Just concerned as to how many people must be falling for it, especially when U r just starting out, busy and dont have a money! I will report this to BBB and see if anything happens.

[master_chief_2007]

Oh, another one!

Annual Review Board it is called this time...
Asking for 195.00 !

These scamsters are just wasting my time!
The address given is 333 S. Grand Ave, 25th Floor, LA, CA 90071

Every Corporation is supposed to file a Statement of Work and these guys are saying that they will do it for you for 195!

DO NOT SEND ANY MONEY. FILE IT YOURSELF.

[loronzo]

I got the Department of Business Minutes scam paperwork last year. Its unfortunate that many people are probably paying this guy! I asked my lawyer about it. He told me @ that point that it was a scam. I also got another paper from them this year so this is what I did. I returned their envelope with a letter stating.

To: Department of Business Minutes

Take me off of your mailing/billing list or I will be forced to report you to the proper authorities. You are scamming people and I do not appreciate getting this mail from you every year.

Thanks for your cooperation and understanding,




Hopefully they will leave me alone @ this point!

[littlbaby]

I thought this was a little fishy, This looked fake. I thought I should look online to see if there were any truth to this......... Figures, what scum.

[Regent123]

I also received these for several of our entities and I remember receiving them last year, however they were under a slightly different name and address.

Department of Business Compliance
P.O. BOX 93069
Los Angeles CA 90093

This year I have noticed the name was different but same format, so just an FYI
DON'T PAY!

[krypton]

Thank You so much. #1 Google hit!!!

I am outraged by this tactic. I refuse to believe that this sort of thing cannot be reported to some goverment agency dealing with fraud. These people are scum!!! To pray on people in an already bad economy. I wish there was more we can do to get them in trouble.

[lukepainter]

Thank You for having this post.
I am running the family business for my folks and thought this looked fishy. I am very glad to see other people are on top of the letter scam.
(good thing I read everything before sending reply's)

[randallg]

I just got one of these too.

from:
Deoarpment of Business Minutes
P.O. Box 41617
Los Angeles, CA 90041

[bruce83]

I just got one of these letters from a client. They evidently paid one last year.
Any opinions on whether the CA Attorney General or Postal Inspector will go after them? At least civily?

[willnotpay]

I just received one 2 days ago. My company is very new,just 2 months.
Now it increased to $175.00. Good that I heard of this before, I didn't pay.

Actually I received another one from whatever "Compliance", another $175.00.

Gosh, can anyone do something on these companies ?

[dr poormouth]

Originally Posted by willnotpay

I just received one 2 days ago. My company is very new,just 2 months.
Now it increased to $175.00. Good that I heard of this before, I didn't pay.

Actually I received another one from whatever "Compliance", another $175.00.

Gosh, can anyone do something on these companies ?

You have, just by posting to this thread and keeping the discussion as active as the scam.

[harif87]

Another 2 scams!

Annual Filing Division
1215 K Street 17th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95148-2736

Business Filing Division
LLC Unit
980 Ninth Street 16th Fl
Sacramento, CA 95814-2736

I noticed there are were a few tells that were identical on all 3 scam forms I received:

1) They all said payment had to be remitted immediately
2) All had the line that said "This product has not been approved or endorsed by any government agency and this offer is not being made by an agency of the government.
3) one of them had the "**AUTO**MIXED" marking above the mailing address which is common to mass mail and flyers
4) An empty space that is used for "OFFICE" use only... at first I misread it thinking it said OFFICIAL, which is surely is NOT!!!

Be careful, make a note of the signs... MY ACCOUNTANT EVEN FELL FOR IT!!!

These people are low, don't let them take advantage of you.

If it wasnt for this forum/posting I would have shelled out money for nothing. Thanks bugmenot3 for your post, and I hope everyone that benefits shares. (its only fair)