Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office warns of business report scam

Kentucky officials are warning business owners of an ongoing scam attempt.

The Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office is warning business owners to not get hustled when filing their annual business reports with the office.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, annual reports must be filed between January 1 and June 30, and can be submitted online or by mail for $15. Unofficial third parties, however, are sending solicitation letters to business owners to file reports on their behalf, charging fees of up to $160. It is unclear if the third parties even file the reports for which they are charging the fee, and the total of $175 is the same amount as most Limited Liability Entity Tax amounts businesses owners pay, leading to confusion.

File your report directly with the Secretary of State’s Office. Business owners can search their business on the office’s website to confirm if their annual report has been submitted. If you paid for services and the report was not filed, file a dispute with your bank and report the incident to local law enforcement.

Sign up for Kentucky scam alerts and find more information on ongoing scam attempts at stopscams.ky.gov.