Connecticut business owners are being targeted in a new scam by a private company attempting to collect money for an unnecessary business operations document.
According to a joint statement issued by Attorney General William Tong and Secretary of the State Denise Merrill, a company calling itself CT Certificate Service has been mailing letters to Connecticut businesses demanding a $112.50 fee for the companies to receive a “Connecticut Certificate of Existence.” The letter insists that the certificate is need to prove that the business “complies with all state requirements.”
CT Certificate Service has a West Hartford mailing address, although an investigation found it is run by a private company out of Florida.
A certificate of existence is not a required document for a business operating in Connecticut. The certificate, which is designed to affirm that a company is active and up-to-date with its annual report filing, can be obtained through the Secretary of the State”™s office.
“CT Certificate of Service has no affiliation with the State of Connecticut and this is not a legitimate mailing,” said Tong. “If you have received this letter or sent money to this company, I want to hear from you.”
“There is no legal requirement for any business to obtain a certificate of legal existence, or to pay the inflated fee indicated,” added Merrill.
What do we do if we believe we paid for this?
I received this today just started a business not even a week ago and got this in mail today I swear these scammers waste no time thank god I looked it up I would have lost another 100 dollars that I could use dor real purposes
I sent money and now I’m getting a second letter for more money. Ridiculous. Wish I would have known the first time.
I just my today, same thing happen, We just open our business not even a week ago, this motherxxxrs , thanks for the heads up.
I received this letter yesterday after opening up a business last week. I was very hesitant to pay this and im glad i found this now!
I just received this message over a week ago. I spoke to my advisor and she told me it was a scam. Thank god she told me it was!! I was about to fill out the form wow.
Hi, I also thought this was a legal requirement for the state of Connecticut, and have SENT $112.50 to them on December 1, 2020. This is so disturbing! now i’m out of that money!
I just started my LLC a week ago and A certificate of existence form came today from CT Certificate Service located at 33 Dixwell Ave. Suite 150 New Haven CT 06511. Thankfully I looked up the company name and confirmed that it is a scam. It’s shocking how they are able to act so quickly.
i recieved it but did not pay
thank you for posting this. apparently they have a second address they are using also 33 dixwell Ave suite 150 New Haven CT 06511.
I almost paid it. I was gonna pay online until I came across this.
Oh my goodness I did the same thing! I am about to file a complaint. How can we get our money back??
I just started my LLC a week ago and A certificate of existence form came today from CT Certificate Service located at 33 Dixwell Ave. Suite 150 New Haven CT 06511. Thankfully I looked up the company name and confirmed that it is a scam. It’s shocking how they are able to act so quickly.
I received the letter today when I checked the mail, the place it came from was in Florida and when I called the number a guy with a Russian voice stated that this is a scam and to go to sosnc.gov to pay $10.00. Good thing I looked this up first they was so quick.
Just received the letter 4 days after the LLC was formed and did not believe the State would use a company out of Florida to collect the money, so I looked it up, thank you for posting about the scam. I can’t believe the State can not do anything about this scam.
I just received this in the mail and very glad i researched it because I was about to mail in a check. Seems like they are still going strong. They now have an address at 341 East Center Street #142, Manchester CT 06040
Wow, I was just about to mail mine in today and decided to go to the web site mentioned on the letter. The address to send to was as above 341 East Center Street #142, Manchester CT 06040.
I will not be sending mine in as well. Thanks for the heads up.