We previously warned you about some USPTO scams. Well, someone looked at those scammers and said, “What a great idea! I’ll do that for new companies who just formed!” In other words, jerks multiplied like bunnies on Viagra. And so I’d like to introduce you to the newest scam: The Certificate of Service Scam. It looks official. It has a local address. It is completely BS.
First, they are correct. You can get a Certificate of Status from your state (from the Department of Financial Institutions in Wisconsin, Secretary of State almost everywhere else.) Getting a Certificate of Status is completely optional. While they want to charge you $72.50, they forget to tell you that you can get one in Wisconsin for $10.00. Yeah. So they make you feel like you are supposed to have one (which you really don’t at this stage), and they want to charge you $62.50 for the document. And I’m sure they won’t do anything bad with your contact and payment information at all.
If you get one of these, you can put it wherever you put your unwanted paper products. I suggest lining your kitchen garbage bin with it.