{"id":2673,"date":"2026-06-25T22:35:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T22:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673"},"modified":"2026-06-25T22:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T22:35:59","slug":"fake-businesses-are-a-real-problem-in-arizona","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673","title":{"rendered":"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<section>\n<p><b>PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 Morgan Johnson doesn\u2019t own a furniture store or run a toy wholesaler, but there\u2019s paperwork that sure makes it look like she does. Three times in the past year, someone has created limited liability companies in her name at her address. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2671\">What to do this weekend in Southern Arizona<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Johnson discovered the fraud after receiving mail about pending credit accounts she never opened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI freaked out a little bit about it because it felt so intrusive,\u201d she told On Your Side.<\/p>\n<p>Fraudsters create fake LLCs with the goal of cashing in, often passing bad checks or opening a line of credit they\u2019ll never repay. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe bottom line is it\u2019s not for a good reason,\u201d said Tanya Gibson, the director of the Corporations Division at the Arizona Corporation Commission. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to data from the agency, the Corporations Division received 208 complaints about fake LLCs in September 2025. After a new system launched in early 2026, complaints dipped, but rose again to 180 in May 2026.<\/p>\n<h2>Why it\u2019s easy to create a fake LLC<\/h2>\n<p>Currently, anyone can create an LLC online using only a name and address. No identification is required.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have no way to verify if that person has the ability to use an address,\u201d said Tanya Gibson, director of the Corporations Division at the Arizona Corporation Commission.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2669\">Trials for remaining suspects in deadly Tucson shooting pushed back<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Gibson said she wants the law changed to give the division authority to validate information and deny filings if fraud is suspected.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, changes are coming to make it tougher to file for fake LLCs. \u201c[By July 1], we\u2019re going to have our online ID verification, which will require a photo ID, front and back, and a selfie,\u201d Gibson explained. \u201cThen the software runs the information against multiple databases. You either come back verified or not. If you come back verified, you get a stamp on your account, and you\u2019re free to file. If you are not verified for whatever reason, you will get a message saying that you need to come into the office to file.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Gibson acknowledged the state cannot prevent fraud completely. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re trying to throw as many hurdles in place as we can,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h2>Dissolution takes months<\/h2>\n<p>Once the state receives a complaint about a fake LLC, it can take months to get it dissolved. In the meantime, the division marks the status as pending inactive and not in good standing, and flags it as undeliverable to alert banks and credit agencies.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said flagging fake LLCs isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to do a lot more,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<h2>How to check for fraud<\/h2>\n<p>Fake LLCs could go unnoticed if victims don\u2019t receive mail about them. Gibson said the agency often sees clusters of addresses, suggesting fraudsters are pulling lists of people and addresses at random.<\/p>\n<p>Residents should check their own address for unauthorized LLCs. Complaints can be filed online or through the call center at 602-542-3026. <\/p>\n<p><i>See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i><i>Please click here to report it<\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<p><i>Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i><i>it to us here<\/i><i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2667\">Extreme heat and rain chances in Tucson<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fraudsters create fake LLCs with the goal of cashing in, often passing bad checks or opening a line of credit they\u2019ll never repay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2672,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona - Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fraudsters create fake LLCs with the goal of cashing in, often passing bad checks or opening a line of credit they\u2019ll never repay.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tucson Moving Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-25T22:35:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"headline\":\"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T22:35:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673\"},\"wordCount\":560,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/48566346b453c725df62bb6d307aab24.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673\",\"name\":\"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona - Tucson Moving Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/48566346b453c725df62bb6d307aab24.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-25T22:35:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/48566346b453c725df62bb6d307aab24.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/48566346b453c725df62bb6d307aab24.avif\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?p=2673#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tucson Moving Report\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tucsonmovingreport.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona - Tucson Moving Report","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona - Tucson Moving Report","og_description":"Fraudsters create fake LLCs with the goal of cashing in, often passing bad checks or opening a line of credit they\u2019ll never repay.","og_url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673","og_site_name":"Tucson Moving Report","article_published_time":"2026-06-25T22:35:59+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"headline":"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona","datePublished":"2026-06-25T22:35:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673"},"wordCount":560,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/48566346b453c725df62bb6d307aab24.avif","articleSection":["Interesting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673","name":"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona - Tucson Moving Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/48566346b453c725df62bb6d307aab24.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-25T22:35:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/48566346b453c725df62bb6d307aab24.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/48566346b453c725df62bb6d307aab24.avif","width":1200,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=2673#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fake businesses are a real problem in Arizona"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/","name":"Tucson Moving Report","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/#\/schema\/person\/71841c7d449e6ab1ace6bce2f5277255","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com"],"url":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}