Seattle — seemed too easy and looked very official.
Betina Finley, a real estate agent for Bellevue, received a text message with a link to file her S-Corp annual return.
“I thought it was triggered because I had just filed my business tax,” Finley said. ’ I thought.”
I clicked on the link and it gave me the company name and address, and I paid $200 to submit the annual report to Secretary of State Washington.
What she didn’t realize was that someone else had paid and filed the report, which only cost her $60 and put the difference in her pocket.
Finley discovered he had been scammed when he checked the Secretary of State’s website and knew something was wrong.
“Instead of my name with the credit card attached, it had someone else’s name and the last four digits of the credit card number,” Finley said.
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit in King County Superior Court Monday against EFile Business and Online LLC and their owners, seeking to kill more than 800 small businesses and nonprofits in this lucrative scheme. accused of targeting.
According to Ferguson, since January 2022, the company has sent 147,000 texts and emails to trick people into submitting annual reports and annual meeting minutes.
Companies can submit the required annual reports directly to the Office of the Secretary of State for $60. Costs range from $20 to $60, depending on the nonprofit’s total annual income.
There was also a text solicitation asking for $150 to $175 to submit the minutes of the annual meeting. Washington State does not require businesses and nonprofits to file annual meeting minutes.
Ferguson, who wants his money back for the small business, has filed a preliminary ruling to stop the company from continuing to send texts and email solicitations to businesses while his lawsuit continues. I applied for a restraining order.
“Washington state law states that we must not engage in unfair or deceptive business practices,” Ferguson said. “What this company did was both unfair and deceptive. You’re tricking them into thinking they’re doing the right thing, paying the state an annual fee, but not sharing with them the fact that that annual fee really matters.It’s just a fraction of the cost.”
The Secretary of State’s office posted a consumer warning about fraud on its website, reminding people to never text.
Ferguson believes other businesses have fallen victim to this scam.
The Attorney General’s Office is urging anyone who may have been targeted to contact them.