Fraudulent Filing Complaint
If you believe that a business filing was filed with the Secretary of State without authority or without consent to use personal information (name, address, etc.), you may submit a complaint to the Public Integrity Division of the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State will investigate the complaint and determine if the business filing is fraudulent.
The ONLY complaints that will be accepted, are those related to specific business entity filings that have already been filed with the Secretary of State.
Scams and Consumer Complaints must be filed with the Attorney General.
Violations to be Investigated
Formation of Fraudulent Businesses
If a business entity was formed without authorization, using individual names or addresses without consent, or was formed for fraudulent purposes, the business will be permanently cancelled. Individual names and/or addresses that were used without consent will be redacted from the public record.
Fraudulent Filings on Existing Businesses
If a fraudulent filing was submitted on an existing business, the following actions will occur:
The unauthorized filing will be cancelled.
The information that was added to the business record, without authorization, will be redacted from the public record and the data will be reverted to what it was prior to the fraudulent filing.
If the status was changed as a result of a fraudulent filing, the status will revert to what it was prior to the fraudulent filing.
Detailed information on the complaint process.
Questions
For questions, go to Fraudulent Filing FAQs