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When you start a business, same thing: you start getting fake bills from fake government agencies.

I'm sure many people just pay them because the hassle of reliably figuring out what's real and what isn't can easily exceed the amount of the bill.

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This is so fucking infuriating. I don't know why the government can't shut these things down. They basically send you an exact copy of the official form you have to fill out with one line in it somewhere that says, "This is not an official government communication. We are not associated with the government in any way." But other than that, it looks identical to the real form. How is anyone supposed to be able to discern that difference? Luckily I've not yet fallen for it, but I have come close several times. Ass hats.

Yep - 100% agree. I opened a new business back in Nov/Dec 2022, and no less than two weeks did I get multiple, official-looking payment requests for labor law posters. They looked very real with some verbiage about "failure to comply with the law", etc. After I opened the first one, I was very motivated to pay the $89 fee (thinking I missed something when starting the business). However, after reading the letter a few times, I realized it was a scam.

The others went in the trash as soon as they came in...

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