There's a consumer alert for new business owners. The Better Business Bureau warns that thieves are using phony documents that look real to take your money.
One of the forms asks you to certify your business with the state for a cost of $86 and the other wants you to certify the name of your business for $125. But both are part of an ongoing scam aimed at first-time business owners.
Roadshark Scooters on Amelia Island is a new business that will officially start selling and renting motor scooters on Saturday. But the owner, Scott Thompson, told News4Jax that he recently received a form in the mail that he thought was legitimate.
"You open it up and think it's a legal document from the state of Florida because it reads, 'You need to register your LLC with the state so you can get a certificate from the state of Florida," Thompson said.
The form even came with a bar code and a website address. But the BBB says that it was actually a fake form intended to scam new business owners out of $86.
"There has been a constant scam, if you will, of sending out notices for various things like that," said Tom Stephens, president of the BBB of Northeast Florida.
But Stephens says there is a way business owners can avoid falling victim to the scam: By paying close attention to what's on the paper.
"If you notice the bottom of that solicitation -- that's what it is -- it says this is voluntary, something to that effect," he said. "That statement is supposed to be in 30-point type to be legal."
But the form Thompson received was in 6-point type, which makes it not only worthless but illegal.
Thompson said he also noticed something else on the paper that raised a red flag.
“They did use the Sunbiz website on there but they used it as 'sunbiz.co.com,' and usually anything with the state or the government is a dot org," he said.
The BBB says scammers prey on people who have never previously owned a business because anyone who has owned a business would look at the paper and toss it in the trash.
In reality, you don’t need to pay an additional $86 if you’ve already registered your business with the state.
“You’ve already paid of it when you paid to start your corporation, and you have your article of corporation that the state sent you when you signed up or filled it out. You pay for that and that’s all you need," Stephens said.
The BBB has also received reports about the "Fictitious Name Instruction Form," which asks you to pay $125. That form is also a misleading solicitation aimed at ripping you off, according to the BBB.
If you get forms like those in the mail and are not sure if they real, you should call the BBB immediately to find out before giving away your money.