BBB Business Scam Alert: Watch out for fake government compliance notices targeting businesses

Milwaukee, Wis. – Scammers have long impersonated government officials and agencies to trick victims into giving up money or personal information. Now, they’re targeting business owners and confusing them into giving up their information.How the scam works

You receive a letter in the mail that looks very official. It claims to come from a government agency or department, like the United States Business Regulations Department or the Department of Records Management. It’s addressed to the business and has a notice ID number. Scammers combine personal information collected from data breaches with official-looking seals and watermarks to make the correspondence seem legitimate.

The letter may inform you of various things, such as “reporting obligations under the Corporate Transparency Act,” or “a federal filing requirement in accordance with recent legislation enacted to combat financial crimes.” The letter claims you must report ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network or another government agency or department. You might be asked to visit a website or scan a QR code to report your information, and the letter might also state that you will be charged large fines and major consequences if you do not comply.

A recent Scam Tracker Report says, “We are writing to remind you that if you have not previously filed, your Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Report is due. File your Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Report here. BOI Reporting was established by the 2021 Corporate Transparency Act and went into effect on January 1, 2024. Your BOI report needs to be filed with the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) before your company’s due date. If your company was formed prior to 2024, it must be filed by December 31, 2024. As of January 25, 2025, the penalty for each day a BOI report is late is $591. What is Beneficial Ownership Information? Beneficial ownership information refers to identifying information about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company. For quick, convenient and accurate filing, Form Filing? provides an online system to easily upload all BOI information. Supported by corporate compliance specialists, we offer an affordable and easy-to-use premium third-party business filing service that simplifies the process. For any questions, or assistance in filing please email info@corporateformfiling.com.”

In a Scam Tracker report, a consumer shared they received, “An official looking letter that is from the “United States Business Regulations Department” stating that you need to comply with a federal filing requirement. They tell you to go to an unsecured website or follow a QR code that takes you to the same unsecured website. They mention fines for non-compliance.”

In another report, someone shared, “I received a letter requesting my mandatory filing of my business with the Department of Records Management, Business Filing Division. Upon searching the website to “file” I stumbled upon a BBB report from another business owner. The letter I received has the same contact phone number, email and web address, as well as siting a QR code on the letter.”

If you receive a letter like this, report it to BBB Scam Tracker and disregard it.

How to avoid government impostor scams 

• Always verify correspondence with government agencies. If you receive a piece of mail or a call that seems suspicious, take a step back and ensure it’s legitimate before taking action. Call the government office directly, using the official phone number, to verify if the communications are real.
• Look for grammar, spelling, and formatting errors in emails and mailings. If a letter or email you receive has grammar mistakes, spelling errors, or strange formatting and logos, these could be red flags for a scam.
• Look for secure websites, even when scanning QR codes. Always check to make sure a website is secure by looking for the “https://” before a web address. Scanning QR codes is an easy way to access a website, but don’t let your guard down and always check the URL. Remember that official government websites end in .gov. Read BBB’s tip on how to identify a fake website.
• Don’t engage with scammers.  As soon as you know you are dealing with a scammer, cease communication. Stop answering calls, letters, or emails, and block any numbers that have called you about the scam.
• Report government impostor scams to the FBI.  Help the Federal Bureau of Investigation catch scammers by reporting your experience to ic3.gov.

For more information

Read more about the Corporate Transparency Act.

Learn more about government impostor scams and how to avoid impostor scams.

See BBB’s scams HQ and BBB’s Business scams HQ for more alerts and tips to protect yourself, your loved ones, and your business.

Check out 10 steps to avoid scams.

To report a scam, visit BBB Scam Tracker.

For more information on business compliance, visit the U.S. Small Business Administration’s business guide on staying legally compliant and the FinCEN Small Business Compliance Guide.

View the online version

For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin, 414-847-6000 or 1-800-273-1002. Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

ABOUT BBB: The Better Business Bureau has empowered people to find businesses, brands, and charities they can trust for over 110 years. In 2023, people turned to BBB more than 218 million times for BBB Business Profiles on 5.3 million businesses, and 80,000 times for BBB charity reports on about 12,000 charities, for free at BBB.org. The International Association of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for the local, independent BBBs in the United States and Canada.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.