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Oregon Secretary of State Corporation Division

Business Alerts

News and information you can use:

​​​​​Information to help you navigate the Corporate Transparency Act​. Federal reporting in place as of January 1, 2024.​​

BOI e-Filing Alert:
Due to a recent federal court order, reporting requirements may have changed. Please visit www.fincen.gov/boi​​ for the most recent information.​

Renewal reminder notices help keep your business registry active. Keep your mailing address updated. Updating your information is easy. Find more information on our Update Registration ​page​.​


​Find out more about electronic notifications​​. Instead of, or in addition to your mailed paper notifications.​


Solicitation Alerts

We often hear from business owners concerned about receiving offers and solicitations that are confusing, deceptive, suspicious or even fraudulent. Below are examples reported to us:

​​​​​​​​​Many Oregon businesses report receiving a questionable solicitation entitled "2023 - Annual Report Instruction Form" or “State Annual Report Renewal Notice.” These forms, sent by out-of-state companies "Workplace Compliance Services" also known as W.C.S. or C.P.S. and “Business Compliance Services” can be easily mistaken for correspondence from the State of Oregon. It is not.

Despite their appearance, the Business Filing Oregon Annual Report​, the Annual Report Instruction Form​​ or the ​ Annual Report Compliance​ were not sent by the Secretary of State Corporation Division.

To see if your annual report is due to be filed with our office, please visit sos.oregon.gov/bi​zsearch​​.

Report any payments made to one of these solicitations to the Department of Justice by filing a complaint online​.

​ If you were misled into paying the additional fee, visit our Don't Be Misled​​ page for more information. ​​​​​​​​​​​​

​​​Be aware of solicitations offering to provide services for a fee. C.P.S., a third-party private business offers an OSHA safety manual for a fee of $295. You can get the manual from the OSHA website free of charge. Visit their website​ for more information.​ Speak directly with Oregon OSHA's Consulting Services​​ for free and confidential help.


​​​Employment poster scams are a concern for many business owners. Required employment posters are generally free. You can download most directly from government agency websites. ​

A typical employment or labor poster solicitation cites state and federal requirements to post labor posters and notices at job sites as well as penalties for non-compliance. These companies offer to provide all the required posters for $105 or more. These offers are scams.

Example of scam solicitation:
 Scam labor law poster solicitation​

Visit the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries​​ (BOLI) for information on employer poster requirements and instructions for downloading and ordering employer compliance posters. ​​​​

​​​​​The Oregon Employment Department issued a fraud alert​​ for people applying for Unemployment Assistance and other benefits. Please be aware of any phishing or spoofing attempts from scammers claiming to be from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). These fraudulent attempts can be made through email, text message, or phone. U.S. DOL will never ask you to provide personal information.​ If you would like to report an allegation of fraud involving unemployment insurance or other U.S. Department of Labor activities or programs, contact the OIG Hotline online​ or by phone at 202-693-6999 or 1-800-347-3756.

​​​Applying for an Employer Identification Number (EIN)​​ is a free service offered by the Internal Revenue Service. Beware of websites on the Internet that charge for this free service.

​ Using a site other than www.irs.gov​​ to apply for an EIN may result in fees as much as $250. These companies won’t refund payments made to them, so it is important that you remain vigilant regarding the site that you use to apply.


Alert:

If you receive a letter with a form to file your BOI report for a fee, it is a solicitation. Reporting to FinCEN is only done online and there is no fee. Complaints about solicitations can be filed with the Office of the Inspector General or the Better Business Bureau.

Investigations

Video from KGW.com
Oregon warns small business owners of fake state fee demand notice from Workplace Compliance Services (2018).

We Are Here to Help

Call us at 503-986-2200, or email.

Oregon Department of Justice Links

Consumer complaint form

Consumer protection, fighting fraud