New Scam Targets Local Business Owners

PALM DESERT- A local politician is sounding the alarm on a new scam targeting small business owners.

Ray Rodriguez co-owns Palm Desert’s Casuelas café. He’s seen his share of scams.

But, one new letter making the rounds is is very sneaky. It demands $150 must be paid to register a company’s name with the California Secretary of State. It even shows a seal of the “California Corporate Headquarters.”

Rodriguez says, “It makes me feel really bad for people who are relatively new to business or employees who might make a mistake because they don’t understand the frequency of how this happens or how really legitimate they look.”

State Senator John Benoit found out about this scam and is trying to sound the alarm.

“Every month it seems that there’s a new scam out there. This is one that seems to have risen to the top this month. If you see a document that purports to be coming from the Secretary of State or an official state agency and says, ‘You need to re-file for them, but if you send them this check, we can take care of it,’ look very closely at the bottom line,” says Benoit.

Bernie Pollack recently sold his restaurants and is sad to see its come to this.

“You really need to check out who is sending you what and where they’re from and is it really real or not real. You have to be cautious is the word,” comments Pollack.

State officials won a million dollar settlement against one group running this scam, but it’s still out there.

Rodriguez has advice for new business owners, “I’d ask them to not defer their invoice processing to anyone else until they have a strong system with someone they trust. You have to look at every invoice. You have to sign every check.”

If you get a letter or an email from someone and you think it’s a business scam, the state Attorney General’s office wants to hear from you. They can be reached at 1-800-952-5225 or at http://www.ag.ca.gov/consumers/general.php