Is NY Certificate Service a Scam?

Register a website and within two weeks, you’ve got about 1,000 trees worth of junk mail. The only difference when you incorporate is that you also receive lots of scary, official-looking mail too. However, what if the junk mail also looks like official mail? Scam artists can be really clever in hiding their advertisements as official requirements from the State of New York. When I received mail from NY Certificate Service, I must admit that I wasn’t sure whether or not it was official or a mail scam. I don’t want you to have to go through the same forensic hassle.

What is a New York Certificate of Status?

Let’s start our exploration with a better understanding of what a New York Certificate of Status is and is not. States issue these certificates to provide an attestation that a corporation is in good standing with licenses, taxes, and all other statutory legal obligations to maintain corporation with the state. A corporation may need to provide this to another state or bank to prove that their corporation is a viable legal entity. States will place an expiration date on the certificate, usually within 90 days, to prevent the corporation from supplying the certificate after it’s status has changed years later.

What Makes NY Certificate Service Look Legitimate?

Let’s look at the mail piece itself and see if we can come to some conclusions about whether or not it is a scam. To be sure, several elements would make any business owner believe the mail is official from New York State. Let’s examine these items first.

The mailpiece prints a document number. If you’ve been filing for your corporation recently, you’d notice the use of this numbering system tends to be an important feature for how New York State processes documents. The form also has my business name, which is surprisingly disarming. It’s easy to wonder, “why would I get this mail if it wasn’t from the State of New York? Who else has my address?” In reality, if you’ve filed articles of incorporation, then your address is a matter of public record. From now on, absolutely anyone can find your address. The notice date and due date are also common elements in official New York State correspondence. These features give a sense of urgency which can cause anyone to activate fight or flight thinking instead of rational analysis. This is helpful in scams, as our danger-avoidance instincts make us more susceptible to grift tactics. Finally, the form came on watermarked paper, which looks more official since it’s a more expensive bond of paper.

Luckily, these are the only features that look official. However, these features are often enough to confuse and trick unsuspecting business owners, because they are the things that pop out first.

Is NY Certificate Service a Scam? 

Don’t be fooled by official-looking elements jumping off the page at you. NY Certificate Service is most definitely a mail scam. Here are all the ways we can know to throw this piece of fraud in the blue bin.

Feel of Urgency

A common tactic that fraudsters use with mail pieces is urgency. This induces the victim to act without a great deal of rational thought. The form gives me only ten days to act! That’s definitely the crazy turnaround that New York State often imposes on corporations and it’s not a lot of time. There are also bolded statements to “Follow Instructions Exactly.” These would be important if they were official New York State correspondence. As we will see, they are just a smokescreen.

Why would I need a Certificate of Status?

The urgency created in the form is meant to distract you from a bigger question, why do I need a Certificate of Status? The form tries to answer that question with a very small amount of truth spread out over too much bread (yes, that is a LOTR reference). The form says that you might need to provide your Certificate of Status for loans and other business purposes. However, since the certificate expires, why in the world would we want one right now? Readers, do not purchase a Certificate of Status unless it has been requested. To be honest, most banks and businesses use W-9s to validate business standing and information and they are free. It will probably be an unusual and infrequent occasion when a Certificate of Status is needed. The responsible thing for a corporation to do would be to wait for a request to see a Certificate of Status before requesting the state to issue one.

NY Certificate Service admits that they are a scam

NY Certificate Service has a very small line, printed on a fold that says “This is not a government agency.” It’s so easy to miss and that’s intentional. It also means that you are not compelled to purchase this service. IGNORE the respond by date! This is not Official New York State correspondence. It is just junk mail.

NY Certificate Service is a Scam

While Certificates of Status are real and there may be an outside chance you may need one someday, NY Certificate Service is a scam. If you really need a Certificate of Status, you can order one through NYS for $25. Only do so if someone has actually requested to see the certificate. Since you need a seal from NYS to make the certificate official. Paying NY Certificate Service $87.25 means that they are either sending you a fraudulent certificate or they are charging you money to contact the state on your behalf with the same information you write on the form and make you pay $62.25 extra to do so.

What a sham! Please do not fall victim to this scam.

2/7/2021 Update #1:

The Better Business Bureau has NY Certificate Service rated as an F and customer satisfaction is 1 out of 5. Some complaints relate to paying for services without receiving their official certificate. Please do not use this company.

12/20/2022 Update #2:

I spoke with the Better Business Bureau about NY Certificate Service they too confirmed that this is a scam. I did file a claim against NY Certificate Service with NYS, but I’ve never heard back from the state about the complaint.