Attorney General Charlie Crist issued a fraud alert for Florida businesses warning of a scheme in which they receive a solicitation for funds, supposedly from the Florida Secretary of State's Office. The solicitation by the "Cooperate Compliance Center" (CCC) requests payment of a $100 fee in accordance with Florida's Statutes. CCC is not affiliated with the Secretary of State's Office in any way.

The state cited by CCC does government requirements for businesses to keep annual minutes, but does not require that these minutes - not to mention a $100 fee - be submitted to any outside entity including the Secretary of State's Office. According to complaints received, several readers of this solicitation believe this to be a valid requirement. As part of the scam, businesses are asked to submit the minutes and a check made payable to CCC.

"Businesses are encouraged to be alert for this type of scam." said Crist. The solicitations appear to be authentic, but are nothing more than a sham. Anyone who might question whether an agency of the Government can require the payment of funds should contact that agency before writing a check.

In this case, the address provided for the Corporate Compliance Center was 400 Capital Circle, Suite 18-403, Tallahassee, FL 32301. That location is a local United Parcel Service (UPS) Store, from which mail was forwarded unopened to an address in California.