Secretary of State warns public against email scam targeting small businesses

Scam victims include businesses failing to file annual reports on time

Businesses who failed to file their annual reports at the Secretary of State Corporate Division by the April 1 deadline are being targeted by scammers, reports the office Thursday.

The fee for a late filing is an extra $50 dollars, on top of the $100 with an extra $2 to do it electronically. Every business must file, including corporations, limited liability companies and sole proprietors.

However, this year, late filers have been getting emails by entities offering to fix it for more.   They can easily go online and find out who has filed late, since that is all public information.

These emails are not from the SOS office, and they should be reported to that office at corporate@sos.nh.gov as well as the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau: doj.nh.gov, according to Thursdays’ release.

Late filers can fix it themselves by using the SOS QuickStart system:  NHQS.   The process is indeed quick and will cost a total of $152.