Local Warns of New Scam

Al-Anon Meetings in Bastrop

A local citizen warns of a new scam going around. The resident told the Record that he received a bill in the mail that appeared to be some sort of fee from the State government.

The document he received in the mail was titled “Texas UCC Statement Request Form.” The form listed his address and said he owed $90 for a “statement service fee.”

“I recently did a purchase of some farm equipment locally, and I have found that there is some public data that’s filed with the Texas Secretary of State’s office which is being used for a scam,” the resident said. “To be clear, this was nothing to do with the local company nor the finance company.”

The resident did some research online and learned that the letter was indeed a scam. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a consumer alert earlier this year warning the public about this particular scam

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has received complaints against Texas UCC Statement Services,” the consumer alert stated. “The company has recently been mailing consumers a solicitation that asks consumers to pay $90 to obtain a form that they are unlikely to need and is available from the Texas Secretary of State for a much smaller fee

“The OAG is cautioning consumers that the company’s mailer is designed to mislead Texans to believe that it was sent by a government agency and that the $90 is already due. The solicitation discloses that Texas UCC Statement Services is not a government agency, but that disclosure is not clear and conspicuous and the net impression is misleading.

“The OAG has recently seen several companies using similar deceptive solicitation tactics. The OAG encourages consumers to report when they receive suspicious mailers that appear like they may be from an official governmental body and that lead consumers to believe they must contact the company and pay a fee.

Members of the public can report suspected fraud to the Texas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division by calling toll-free 1-800-621-0508 or by filing an online complaint at https:// www.texasattorneygeneral. gov/consumer-protection/fileconsumer-complaint.

Thankfully, the local resident who got this letter did not fall for the scam

As this hit me and undoubtedly will or has hit others in the area,” he said. “I wanted to take the opportunity to make everyone aware of this and that it is here in Fayette County. Without due diligence, I see where many folks could be taken by this scam. Luckily, I looked deep into it and was able to avoid being taken on this ride.”