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Fraud Alert – Beneficial Ownership Reporting
The Beneficial Ownership Reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act requires businesses to provide information (including personally identifiable information) to the federal government to combat fraud, terrorism, and money laundering. However, the passage of this Act has created additional opportunities for fraudsters.
FinCEN has issued a warning about a scam targeting individuals and companies subject to the reporting requirements under this Act. The current scheme involves mailings or emails with titles such as “Important Compliance Notice” or indicating it is from the “US Business Regulations Department.”
These mailings solicit sensitive information from individuals and are fraudulent. They may also threaten a company with jail time, fines, or a sheriff/police officer sent out to the business address. They often will have a filing fee for this. Ultimately, though, the scammers are looking for information that you must report to FinCEN, including addresses, photo identification, and dates of birth.
The only place to report your small businesses’ Beneficial Ownership information is with FinCEN’s Beneficial Ownership Secure System (unironically known as BOSS) at https://www.fincen.gov/boi.
DO NOT respond to mailings offering to register your small business for a small fee. The filing of the beneficial ownership information with FinCEN is free.
To navigate through potential scams, it’s important to stay informed and alert. Remember, the legitimate channel for reporting your small business’s beneficial ownership information is through FinCEN’s Beneficial Ownership Secure System (BOSS). By remaining vigilant and reporting any suspicious activity, we can collectively ensure the security and integrity of our business landscape.