Annual Business Registration SCAM! Don't be fooled by their official looking notice from Los Angeles, California

I recently received notification from an entity pretending to be associated with the California Secretary of State's office called Annual Business Registration.  It stated that a payment of $218.00 is due October 15, 2012 and cites California Corporations Code sections.

After carefully reading the small print, I found several misspellings and grammar issues.  Nowhere on this notification was there a statement indicating that their organization is not a government agency.  There is one sentence prior to the signature line stating the following "I, we authorize Annual Business Registration to submit and file the Statement of Information of the LLC named above."  I believe this is their way of implying they are providing a service rather than acting on behalf of the state.

Don't be fooled by these scammers...don't send them any money!

Note that while the Statement of Information is required to be filed by LLCs as stated in this notification, that the State of California only charges $20 to do so and it may be done quickly and securely online at this url: https://businessfilings.sos.ca.gov/