In my eMail today was an official looking message that it was time to file my annual report with the State of FL. Upon closer inspection, the eMail comes from a company called Arvitas.

Forgetting for a moment that the company spammed (in direct violation of the Can Spam act of 2003), this eMail is a scam: Business owners can file their own annual reports, which take about 5 minutes, with the state of FL online (www.sunbiz.org).

Even when you follow the link in the eMail, the site is misleading. You do NOT need a company like this to file your reports. You can do that yourself, and do it for LESS MONEY.

This company is currently listing a fee of $300 to file your annual report, which you can do yourself for $150. Perhaps the company will save you a lot of time? Nope. Filing on the official state site takes literally 5 minutes - the same amount of time it will take to enter your credit card on theArvitas site (and now a scammer has your card number).

I'm sure the company will reply that they are not a state agency and that they are offering a 'service'. HOWEVER, the spam they sent is misleading and intentionally made to look as if it DID come from the state.