I received a letter in the post about my business offering online business registration. But there was something about it that set off red flags.

These companies will charge you extra dollars to renew your business name to cover their costs. But why would you want to pay an excess amount when you can do it yourself?

I looked at several online forums and discovered they used names like Online Business Registration Pty Ltd and Business Name Renewal, Registry Australia Pty Ltd, and BNRenewal.com.au.

Similar emails and letters from companies pretending to be ASIC may contain ransomware. Be careful with these and avoid clicking on any of the hyperlinks.

Letter from Online Business Registration

I received a letter from Online Business Registration. But it looked semi-professional and contained several errors.

• The date was incorrect.
• The business renewal date was at least one month too early.
• The web address was not a government one.
• It was not written on ASIC government letterhead.

It did clearly state that the letter was not from ASIC and the company is a private business registration services provider.

The cost to renew your business name using Online Business Registration:

• One year AUD$99
• Three years AUD$199

Letter from Registry Australia Pty Ltd

A few weeks later, I received a similar letter from a different Melbourne-based company called Registry Australia Pty Ltd.

The letter was more professional and didn’t contain errors. It clearly stated that the company was a private business registration service independent of ASIC.

It offered premium Australian-based phone and email support. You could also receive auto-renewal notifications.

The cost to renew your business name using Registry Australia:

• One year AUD$99
• Three years AUD$189 ($63 per year)

How to Save Money on Business Registration in Australia

It would be easy to pay the bill from one of these third-party companies. But you might as well save money and renew your business registration directly with ASIC.

• One-year renewal: AUD$42
• Three-year renewal: AUD$98

ASIC recommends you deal with them directly and you can use the official webpage: Renewing your business name | ASIC

The post Beware: Don’t Get Ripped off with Your Business Registration in Australia appeared first on Women Love Tech.

DMTBeautySpot

via https://dmtbeautyspot.com

Emma Crameri, DMT.NEWS, DMT BeautySpot,