Deceptive Letters Circulating to Indiana Businesses

A letter mailed to Indiana businesses, that would appear to come from an official government source, should be ignored. Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita announced today the letter is deceptive and does not come from his Business Services Division. Secretary Rokita and his staff are working with federal law enforcement to determine who is responsible for these letters and ensure they are stopped.

The letter has been received by at least one restaurant corporation that reported it to the Indiana Restaurant Association.

The letter solicits a $125 annual fee and claims it will be used for record keeping and processing of a company's annual minutes. It gives the appearance of coming from a legitimate government agency and cites fictitious state law. It also includes a "return by" date. The return address on some of the recent letters mailed to Indiana businesses goes to a box at a Mailboxes, Etc. store close to the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis.

"I will not tolerate an attack of this nature against businesses in Indiana," said Secretary Rokita. "My office has actively engaged the U.S. postal inspector who has jurisdiction in this case and will advocate aggressively for Indiana's businesses, large and small."

Secretary Rokita is concerned businesses may be confused and believe responding to the letter takes the place of business entity reporting that is legitimately required by state law. Businesses operating in Indiana can now securely submit these reports online through the INBiz portal found on the Secretary of State's Web page, www.in.gov/sos/business.

Businesses wishing to check the validity of any mailing from Indiana's Business Services Division or any division of the Office of the Indiana Secretary of State should contact the Business Services Division Help Line at (317) 232-6576.