As a business owner, often times you’ll receive notices in the mail or in your e-mail inbox that look to be valid, but are not. Sometimes these are just solicitations to get you to spend unnecessary monies on things you think you need, but other times they can be more sinister. You need to be aware of what you truly need to be paying for, and watch out for criminals who want to defraud you. These notices can be in regard to many different things. I’ve seen fliers for advertising (yellow pages online listings, domain name registrations, employment posters, etc). Now some of these things you really do need (employment posters, DBA filings, etc) but you don’t have to pay the fees listed on the solicitations as the fees are much higher than if you did it yourself through the actual agency.
I received one of these solicitations once to renew my DBA (when I was a sole-proprietor). It said to send a check for around $125 (I no longer remember the exact amount) to update the required filing. However, if I did it through the website for the LA County Recorder, it was $25. The forms look like they come directly from the agency, so they are deceiving. I often get the yellow pages “invoice” but never pay for those. If you look at the fine print, it says it is a solicitation and not a bill. However, many business owners are too busy to carefully review their mail so either pay it themselves or give it to the accounts payable person to pay.
I’ve also received e-mails supposedly from the IRS, post office, Better Business Bureau, etc all stating information to scare me into opening the attachment or link within the e-mail. Even Paypal, Ebay, and other sites supposedly have sent me messages. However, clicking on these links exposes the computer to viruses of spy ware, so I never click any links from these e-mails. The IRS contacts you in writing if there is an issue with your account, and so do most other agencies. If you aren’t sure if a message you have received is valid, go directly to the website or contact them by phone. Many also have e-mails you can forward the message to in order to confirm the validity ([email protected], [email protected], etc).
A few days ago I received an e-mail in regard to renewing my domain name. However, I knew that I purchased a longer time frame for the domain so looked at the content more closely. It turns out it was from someone (not the company I purchased from) who wanted me to pay them to register my domain. The gist was that I don’t own my domain name, so I should pay them in order to do privatize it. The message stated, “Failure to complete your domain name search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this offer making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web.” It sounded like my domain was going to expire and if I didn’t pay, clients wouldn’t be able to find me. The funny thing is, this domain doesn’t even have a website created yet as I purchased it for something I plan to do soon.
If you receive any of these types of notices, make sure they are valid. Don’t click a link or attachment as most likely it is going to infect your computer with a virus. Please be aware that these types of notices often appear soon after you’ve browsed to certain sites. It therefore seems legitimate.
I hope you have found this information helpful. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact my office for answers. We can be reached at 310-534-5577 or [email protected].
Candy
