Legal Alert: Beware of Scams Related to the Corporate Transparency Act

The Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) became effective January 1, 2024. The CTA is intended to address and guard against money laundering and other forms of illegal financing by requiring certain entities (primarily small and medium size businesses) to report “beneficial owner” information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”). The CTA authorizes FinCEN, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department, to collect, protect, and disclose this information to authorized governmental authorities and to financial institutions in certain circumstances.  

As is sometimes the case, there are “bad actors” impersonating government agencies and officials attempting to use this new reporting requirement to solicit personal information for nefarious purposes, such as identity theft. Identification documents for “beneficial owners,” typically a passport or driver’s license, are required to be uploaded to the FinCEN website as part of the filing process. There are reports of scams soliciting this information under the guise of filing the reports. CTA scams may include emails or correspondence titled “Important Compliance Notice” or similar language. FinCEN does not send unsolicited requests for this information. If you receive an email asking you to click on a URL or scan a QR code, be cautious. While you do not have to hire an attorney or an accountant to file the report, if your business does decide to engage an outside provider to handle this filing, make sure you are using a trusted advisor.  

We intend to follow this post up with additional compliance information as it becomes available. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the CTA, please feel free to reach out to us.