Beware: Fraudulent Businesses May Be Using Your Address

Beware: Fraudulent Businesses May Be Using Your Address

A client recently contacted me after receiving unexpected business mail at his home. When we checked the Colorado Secretary of State’s website, we discovered that a business had registered using his address—without his knowledge or consent.

Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident.

According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), there’s been a rise in fictitious businesses registering with random addresses—often residential homes or downtown hotels—where they have no actual presence. These fraudulent registrations can cause serious headaches for the unsuspecting property owners or legitimate businesses whose addresses are misused.

Why This Matters

If a fraudulent business registers using your address, you could face:

  • Legal and financial risk – Law enforcement or creditors may wrongly associate you with illegal activity.
  • Unwanted mail and subpoenas – You may receive collection notices, court documents, or tax correspondence not meant for you.
  • Reputation damage – Customers or vendors could mistakenly believe your business is connected to a scam.
  • Business credit or IRS confusion – Erroneous address records can interfere with your financial and tax identity.

What You Can Do

If you start receiving mail addressed to a person or business you don’t recognize, take action:

  • Check the Colorado Secretary of State’s website to see if a business has listed your address.
  • Report the fraudulent registration to:

Additional Protection: Lock Down Your Credit

To further protect yourself, consider freezing your credit with the three major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion). This is free and can be done online:

  • You’ll need to create accounts with each bureau.
  • They may make it hard to find the free credit freeze option—but it’s there.
  • Once frozen, you can temporarily lift the freeze when applying for credit, then re-lock it as needed.
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