OLYMPIA, Wash. – State Attorney General Bob Ferguson is taking aim at two companies accused of scamming small businesses.
Consumer protection lawsuits were filed on Thursday, March 17th, against CA Certificate Service and Labor Poster Compliance, both of which are based in Florida.
The lawsuits claim that over 210,000 letters were sent to small businesses across Washington State, claiming they owed a one-time fee to the state government.
Letters were designed to mimic official government mail and the two companies used information from the Secretary of State’s website to make them look more official.
Among the information gathered were business registration dates, which is what CA Certificate Service and Labor Poster Compliance used to determine when those letters would be sent out.
Ferguson says that over $1.2 million in fake fees were paid to both companies from an estimated 15,000 small businesses.
He’s asked the two companies to stop sending the letters and to pay back the money taken in the scam.