Corporate Law Compliance Scam!

Posted by Jeff Lipshaw

I’m a pretty sophisticated guy, I like to think, but even I was taken aback by a piece of marketing junk mail today.  I don’t practice law very much, but I have a Massachusetts professional corporation, which means that I get a lot of stuff in the mail that goes straight into the wastebasket.  This came in a green letter-sized envelope from an outfit called “Compliance Services” on Commercial Street in Boston.  It does say “THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT DOCUMENT” but in larger font it has the usual scammy statements like IMPORTANT and TIME SENSITIVE.  I wasn’t quite sure if it was the annual report I’m required to file, and I was in a hurry so I opened it.

Inside is a document that looks just like a government form (like a required annual report) with the following:

Submit the Annual Minutes Requirement Statement (CS FORM MIN-MA11-1) together with payment for the preparation of documents to satisfy the annual minutes requirement for your corporation. Submit a check for $125.00 payable to [Official Sounding Name] and mail to:  [Official Sounding Name, etc.]

What are you doing?  You are paying some nudnik $125 to write up the usual form annual meeting minutes.  Not quite like the “grandson’s been in an accident scam,” but close. Warn your clients.