UPDATE: Wham Scam, No Thank You Ma'am

*** UPDATE ***

I spoke again with my friend who had encountered a fraud form in establishing their new business LLC. According to my friend, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) is currently involved in catching these fraudsters (yes, there is more than one bad guy involved), and seeking civil penalties, injunction and other equitable remedies and costs. Although they have my friend on record, there is still no guarantee that there will be compensation … unless they catch the bad guys.

Say you’ve already sent in a check to the address listed on the fake form. What should you do? In order to help strengthen this case and potentially get your money back, immediately get in touch with the OAG’s Complaint Department and file your complaint electronically here.

After contacting the Better Business Bureau and the OAG, they replied. Here is their letter they sent in response to my friend’s filed complaint:

“Effective October 8, 2009 the Attorney General has sued George Alan Miller, Rebecca Miller, Arghisti Keshishyan, and Kristina Keshishyan who work together operating two corporations and one LLC: Annual Review Board, Inc., Business Filings Division and Corpfilers.com, LLC. Miller and his co-conspirators mailed solicitations to California limited liability companies and corporations, demanding that the recipients complete the form and return it with payment or risk penalties, fines and suspension. The payment amounts varied from $195 to $239, but all mailers were designed to be official looking government documents that misled the recipients into sending money.”

All defendants are accused of violating:
-Business and Professions Code section 17533.6 (Deceptive Solicitation Statute)

-Civil Code section 1716 (Phony Billing Statute)

-Business and Professions Code section 17500 (False Advertising Statute)

-Unfair business practices within the meaning of Business and Professions Code section 17200.

If you see any suspiciously generic-looking forms, either in your own or a friend’s mailbox, remember those names: Annual Review Board, Inc., Business Filings Division and Corpfilers.com, LLC.

Take time to read this, don’t allow yourself to be susceptible to these low-life white collar criminals attempting to steal your money.