By News staff
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- More than 140 business owners have contacted Rhode Island's secretary of state after receiving a letter from a scam artist demanding a fee to comply with state business regulations.
Chris Barnett, a spokesman for Secretary of State Ralph Mollis, says the letter did not come from a state agency. It claims to come from a non-existent agency known as Rhode Island Corporate Compliance and directs recipients to submit a "document fee" of $125.
Barnett says his office is concerned businesses that pay the fee, believing the letter to be genuine, may decide they don't have to file annual corporate reports that by law are required.
U.S. Postal Inspection Service has asked any business that paid the fee to contact its office.