Have you gotten a letter in your mail box from Fincen Alliance? Does it say you’ve to file your BOI by a certain date or pay a late penalty of $500 daily?
You’re not alone! Lots of US residents -especially company owners – have received similar mail from Fincen Alliance. However, it’s not from the right source nor is the content legit or really genuine.
As a new business owner, you’re mandated to file your BOI – Beneficial Ownership Information – to FinCEN within 90 days. However, filing this information is totally free of charge and not $119 annually as stated on fincenalliance.com.
Unmasking The Fincen Alliance BOI Reporting Services Scam
First things first, Fincen Alliance whose website is fincenalliance.com is not the official website of FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network). The official website is fincen.gov.
Secondly, fincenalliance.com was actually launched or created on 22nd March 2024. This information is available on Who.is (a domain registry). Whereas the legit FinCEN website has been in existence since October 1997.
Thirdly, Fincen Alliance is charging a hefty fee of $119 annually for services you can do free of charge. There’s also a likelihood that after taking money from you they wouldn’t file the report.
Lastly, there could be potential risks with using fincenalliance.com. Your credit card details could be compromised when you pay for their services. This could lead to unauthorzied credit charges or even malware infestation on your devices.
What information is needed for BOI?
Information needed for BOI are identifying data about the individuals who directly or indirectly own or control a company. This is needed in order to curb bad actors who hide or benefit from ill-gotten wealth through shell companies or other opaque ownership structures.
This information includes –
- A name, address, birth date, and a unique ID number for each beneficial owner* (includes those that own 25% or more of a company either directly or indirectly.) The unique ID number could be a driver’s license number or passport number. Social security numbers aren’t accepted all the time.
- A name, address, registered agent, and tax ID number for the business
- Type of BOI filing (initial filing, correction, or update)
- Information about company applicants for newly created businesses.
How to file Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting online
Filing your BOI is relatively simple and don’t take more than 10 minutes. Below are steps to take;
- Visit boiefiling.fincen.gov
- Click on the blue square box that says ‘File BOIR’
- Choose between the two filing method that works for you. Either PDF or Online. (Note you need an Adobe Reader to file via PDF)
Bottom Line
Fincenalliance.com is not the legit FinCEN website and they’re not affiliated with the government. Their services come at a horrendous cost which is something business owners can do for free, in less than 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, there could be dangers lurking in the website such as malware program running in the background, or a hacker who’d attempt to steal credit card info. As a result of this, we don’t recommend fincenalliance.com.
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