Welcome to my Security Blog!  There are many thousands of other security bloggers out there, doing great work to help keep others safe, and I regularly read many of them.  My blog has one purpose – to give you “News You Can Use” – to stay safe in today’s ever-increasingly complex security landscape.

 

Being human, there are things with our world that just piss me off.  Like people who break into cars, or drive without clearing snow and ice from their car windows.

 

Then, there’s the SCAMMERS… Especially the scammers that prey on the elderly, the vulnerable or people who are just trying to do the right thing.

 

More posts to follow, however for today I’d like to relate an almost laughable scam that came across the mail this week.  The day after I registered Chris Lombardi Security Services LLC with the Colorado Secretary of State, I received this official-looking piece of mail:

 

Inside, an official-looking letter marked “For Official Use Only” urged me to complete the LLC registration process by requesting a “Certificate of Good Standing”, which would happily be provided by “Colorado Certificate Services” for the nominal cost of USD $74.50:

 

An elegant bit of deception, to be sure, perpetrated by “CO. Services, 1550 Larimer St #295, Denver CO 80202”, who can also be contacted at “RECORDS@COSERVICE.BIZ” (index that google!).  To the first time business owner, this might appear to be just another part of the process, however, ANYONE can get a “Certificate of Good Standing” for FREE on the Colorado Secretary of State website!!!

 

Schemes like this irritate the carp out of, as while not technically illegal, they bounce along a thin line to disgusting, immoral and absolutely reprehensible behavior on a semi-industrial scale.  I’ll be bringing more of these stories to the table soon, until then Stay Safe!