SEATTLE — It seemed too easy and it looked very official.
Betina Finley, a realtor in Bellevue, got a text message with a link to file the annual return for her S-Corp.
"I thought it was triggered because I just filed my business taxes," Finley said. "I just figured, 'oh, it just triggered this alert to me that it's time to file your annual report.'"
When she clicked on the link, it showed her business name and address and she paid the $200 to file the annual report to the Washington Secretary of State.
What she did not realize was someone else had paid for and filed the report, which only costs $60, and pocketed the difference.
Finley discovered she'd been scammed when checked the Secretary of State's website and she knew something was not right.
"Instead of my name with my credit card attached, it had some other person's name and their last four digits of their credit card number," Finley said.
Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a consumer protection lawsuit in King County Superior Court on Monday against EFile Business and Online LLC, along with their owner, accusing them of targeting more than 800 small businesses and nonprofits with this lucrative scheme.
Since January 2022, Ferguson said the company sent 147,000 texts and emails deceptively getting people to file their annual report and annual meeting minutes.
Businesses can file required annual reports directly with the Secretary of State's Office for $60. It costs between $20 and $60 for nonprofits, depending on the nonprofit's annual gross revenue.
Other text solicitations demanded between $150 and $175 to file annual meeting minutes. Washington state does not require corporations or nonprofits to file annual meeting minutes.
Ferguson is hoping to get money back for the small businesses and has filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the companies from continuing to send text and email solicitations to businesses while his case continues.
"Washington State law says you cannot engage in unfair or deceptive business practice," Ferguson said. "What this company did was both unfair, and deceptive. They're deceiving the small businesses into doing what they think is the right thing, paying the state for an annual fee, but not sharing with them the fact that that fee is really a fraction of the cost."
The Secretary of State's office posted a consumer alert about the scam on its website and reminded people it will never send text messages.
Ferguson believes there are more companies who fell victim to the scam.
The Attorney General's office is urging anyone who may have been targeted to contact them.