| NASHVILLE, Tenn. –Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett today issued a new warning about unaffiliated mail scam solicitations targeting newly registered business entities. These scams being mailed across Tennessee could cause additional financial burden on businesses and charitable organizations.
Tennessee businesses and charitable organizations have reported receiving an official-looking mailer from a third-party entity called the Business Resource Center Compliance Division. Wording on the scam mailer suggests that obtaining a Certificate of Status is necessary to operate a newly formed business and offers to provide the form for an excessive fee. However, such a form is not required in Tennessee and any necessary business documents can be obtained directly through the Secretary of State’s office.“ Our office is seeing an increase in complaints from businesses about this scam mailer that asks for excessive and unnecessary fees for a form that doesn’t exist in Tennessee,” said Secretary Hargett. “We want all Tennessee organizations to know we provide the necessary documentation for newly registered business and charitable entities through our office.” Business Resource Center appears to be soliciting Secretary of State customers for its own benefit and customers should be aware of mailings where there is no return address and the company is using a zip code used by the Secretary of State’s office. “All business owners should be wary of any correspondence that attempts to look like it is from the State of Tennessee,” Secretary Hargett added. “This group is not affiliated with us, and we ask recipients of these unaffiliated communications to continue to report them to us, so we can notify the proper authorities.” You can contact the Division of Business and Charitable Organizations to report suspicious activity by calling (615) 741-2286 or emailing TNSOS.corpinfo@tn.gov. To file a complaint with the Attorney General’s office, call (615) 741-3491 or visit Attorney General & Reporter (tn.gov). |
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