by Eric D. Morton
A few times a year, we devote an article to scams that target businesses and individuals. Some are sophisticated and some rely on fear. Lately, there has been an increase in scammers impersonating government agencies and agents. Some of these scams are have been around for some time and others are new. Here are a few common fraud schemes.
1. Corporate Compliance. These are mailings that inform a business owner that they must make certain government filings or their business entity will be in danger. For a price, they will take care of it for you. Corporations and limited liability companies do need to make certain filings but they don’t need these scammers help. Furthermore, these solicitations often ask for sensitive information that can be used for identify theft. Usually, these notices come with official looking seals and names to give the appearance of an officla notice. Throw them away.
2. Trademark Renewals. Every owner of a registered trademark inevitably receives a notice in the mail purporting to tell the trademark owner that their registration is about the expire. The notice gives false dates for renewal or maintenance filings that must be made to keep a registration alive. For a price, the company will keep the business’ trademark safe. I get calls almost every month from clients who receive those official looking notices. Throw them away.
3. Internal Revenue Service. Persons have been impersonating the IRS for some time. Fraudsters send fake emails with notices and/or links. Others call individuals. They claim that taxes are owing and must be paid immediately or severe penalties will be assessed or criminal charges brought. These scammers have become bolder and more sophisticated. They are studying companies and the principals before calling and making frightening threats and demanding payment. They seem to know who is the most vulnerable to their demands. Too often a business owner will agree and a wire payment to a non-government account. Money taken in such a way is not recoverable. The money is immediately sent into international laundering systems never to return.
The IRS will not contact you by phone before sending you multiple written letters and bills. The IRS will never demand a wire transfer to specific account. The IRS will not ask for credit card payments. If you get a unexpected call from someone claiming to be an IRS agent, hang up.
4. Immigration Enforcement. Immigration scams targeting immigrants are rampant. Scammers impersonate ICE agents or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and contact immigrants for various schemes. Persons offer fake legal services, visa help and other fraudulent schemes.
Lately there has been an uptick in such fraud against employers. USCIS reports that it has learned that employers have received scam emails requesting Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. These requests appear to come from USCIS. However, employers are not required to submit Forms I-9 to USCIS. Employers must have a Form I-9 for every person on their payroll who is required to complete Form I-9. Employers must keep these forms for a certain length of time.
These fake requests are often made using email. Although some email addresses might look legitimate, example: news@uscis.gov, they are, in fact, a scam. The body of the email may contain USCIS and Office of the Inspector General labels, your address, and a fraudulent download button that links to a non-government web address (uscis-online.org). Do not respond to these emails or click the links in them.
We have also heard of individuals claiming to work for the Department of Homeland Security contacting businesses to inquire about a particular employee. Sometimes calls are made that appear to be from legitimate government telephone number. These are also fraudulent. Do not respond to these inquires since they make no sense.
I am sure there will be more scams by scammers impersonating government agencies. Usually, government agencies will send written notices long before they try contact companies by phone. Be skeptical of emails or calls from agencies that come without any forewarning. Don’t respond to, or click links in, suspicious emails.
Eric D. Morton is the principal attorney of Clear Sky Law Group, P.C. He can be reached at 760-722-6582, 510-556-0367, and emorton@clearskylaw.com.