The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is advising its members — as well as all pilots — to consider any solicitation they receive about renewing their aircraft registration that does not come directly from the FAA with a healthy dose of suspicion.
Officials at the association say they are aware of several businesses — with names, web addresses, and logos that appear reminiscent of a government agency — that notify aircraft owners of impending registration expirations and direct them to a website or mail-in form where they can renew in exchange for a hefty fee.
Adding little or no actual value to the transaction, these businesses essentially duplicate the same process that the FAA directly administers for a mere $5, according to EAA officials.
Unless a business is known to be reputable and offers a tangible service above and beyond a simple registration renewal, such as expedited processing or automatic renewal, pilots should use the FAA’s online registration portal, EAA officials said.
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This has been an ongoing problem in Florida. There are a number of scam artists who offer to renew your Florida LLC or corporation for a healthy fee. It is so bad that Sunbiz (the Florida DOS website) posts a notice to that effect about it. Others offer to renew your homestead exemption, others will try to charge you a hundred dollars for a copy of the “OFFICIAL DEED!!!” to your property, which you can download for free yourself from the appropriate county website.
There are also several scam artists who will offer to renew your website for you, again, for a healthy fee. I haven’t seen anyone yet to offers to renew e-mail addresses, but it can’t be long now . . .
The sad part of this is that these scams are not actually illegal, just scummy in the extreme. I usually give the letters back to the post office as deceptive advertising, but nothing happens.
Would someone with enough brains to complete the process of obtaining a pilot’s license ever fall for a scam such as this?
Sounds like the same individual who last week notified me that a consignment for me worth $7,000,000 had been discovered at Atlanta Hartsfield, and I only had to pay him 30% of it and it would be turned over to me!
Bob