6 westword.com WESTWORD JULY 16-22, 2026 | MUSIC | CAFE | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | NEWS | LETTERS | CONTENTS | House of Fraud COLORADO HOME ADDRESSES ARE BEING USED TO REGISTER THOUSANDS OF FAKE BUSINESSES. BY HANNAH METZGER Zack Baldwin is used to getting spam mail at his house in Monte Vista, but there was something strange about the letters he started receiving last month. The ads congratulated him on his new business, attempting to sell him company certifi cates and posters. Except Baldwin doesn’t have a business. Yufeng Services LLC, a mysterious entity masked by a string of LLCs and possibly fake names, registered a company to Baldwin’s home address without his knowledge or per- mission, he says. And he’s far from the only one. Yufeng Services has formed more than 6,400 LLCs and corporations using addresses across Colorado, according to fi ling records with the Secretary of State’s Offi ce. Dozens of people have submitted complaints, alleging that the entity wrongfully used their home addresses in its business fi lings, according to the Better Business Bureau scam tracker. The public complaints span nearly every corner of the state, from Eaton to Rangely to Cortez, in addition to hubs like Denver, Colorado Springs and Fort Collins. “If it wasn’t for those spam business mailers, I never would have known this was happening,” Baldwin says. “No one called me, no one checked on the house or verifi ed the people who own it. ... Like, it’s that easy?” This has become a recurring issue in Colorado. In May, Attorney General Phil Weiser fi led a series of lawsuits claiming that over 12,000 commercial entities were fraud- ulently registered to virtual mailboxes at one downtown Denver address. The lawsuits also alleged that an LLC had registered 370 businesses to a single-family home in Cripple Creek without the owner’s knowledge. Yufeng Services began operations on April 1, fi ling as many as 300 new entities a day as the registered agent. Many of these alleged busi- nesses have unintelligible names comprised of random letters, as if the fi ler simply smashed their keyboard. None that Westword checked have any website or online presence. The LLC registered to Baldwin’s home is called YRTYTDKUFYGS LLC, formed on June 9. There is no contact information, online footprint or any evidence that it is an actual business. Baldwin says he immedi- ately called local police, who had never heard of using a stranger’s address in business fi lings. Baldwin says he then turned to the BBB, secretary of state and attorney general. As of July 13, YRTYTDKUFYGS is still registered to Baldwin’s home address and is listed as in “good standing,” according to state fi ling records. Yufeng Services is also in “good standing.” A spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Offi ce says it hasn’t received any complaints regarding Yufeng Services (Baldwin says his complaint was specifi cally directed at YRTYTDKUFYGS). The Attorney General’s Offi ce says it cannot comment on whether it is investigating the entity. Now, Baldwin is left fearing that he or his home will be implicated in illegal activity. “I spent a good two weeks diving into ev- erything to fi gure out if my house was going to be raided by the cops,” he says. “I’ve been trying to keep an eye on my mailbox to see if anyone shady has been waiting around to intercept packages. ... Somebody’s trying to do some illegal shit. And if it happens to get caught, it blows back on me.” Why Use a Stanger’s Address? Using unauthorized addresses to form businesses is typically the fi rst step in a larger scheme, according to law enforcement. Scammers register a business with a ran- dom Colorado address, obtain “good stand- ing” status from the Secretary of State’s Offi ce, and then use that apparent legitimacy to gain victims’ trust. Sometimes, the fake Colorado business enables scammers to open bank ac- counts or obtain accreditations from federal agencies to further legitimize the illicit op- eration, the attorney general’s lawsuits state. The Attorney General’s Offi ce has con- nected past fraudulent fi lings to cryptocur- rency scams, investment fraud, romance scams and online retail scams. In the case of the 12,000 fraudulent registrations in Denver, many were allegedly posing as well- known brands or public institutions, like Nike, Estee Lauder and various universities. “These scams succeed because they manufacture trust. Fraudsters exploited Colorado business registrations to make their operations appear legitimate and con- vince consumers to hand over their money,” Weiser explained in May. “These scams are becoming more sophisticated, more con- vincing, and more fi nancially devastating. Consumers should be especially cautious ... a business registration alone does not guarantee a company is legitimate.” Colorado may be particularly attractive for this kind of scam because it is one of the cheapest states to register a business. The state charges just $50 to form an LLC. In 2022 and 2023, the state temporarily reduced fi ling fees to $1 in an effort to help foster new busi- nesses following the COVID-19 pandemic. During that discount period, one man fi led over 15,400 fraudulent businesses using a stranger’s home address in Northglenn, the Colorado Sun reported. “I think it’s a little too easy to do if you don’t even have to prove that you live at the house,” Baldwin says. “I get not wanting to put too much red tape that makes opening a business too hard. But there should at least be some.” State legislators have recently passed laws intended to crack down on these scams. As of July 2025, state law requires that registered agents of Colorado companies have a valid Colorado ID or verify that they live in the state. However, out-of-state individuals can eas- ily get around this requirement by using an entity as the registered agent instead of an in- dividual. Bad actors can use an existing fraudu- lent LLC or select a legitimate registered agent service from the state database without the service’s permission; the online form only requires users to check a box indicating that the agent has agreed to be appointed. A newly passed state law will soon prohibit using a fraudulent entity as a registered agent. That law goes into effect on Aug. 12. It will also adjust state processes to make it easier to fl ag an entity as fraudulent and dissolve it. “Business fraud is a nationwide problem that continues to evolve,” says Jack Todd, spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Of- fi ce, which supported the new state law. “We are innovating and leading the nation here in Colorado in our efforts to stop fraudsters from fi ling illegitimate business registrations.” Who’s Behind Yufeng Services? Yufeng Services LLC was formed on April 1 with an entity listed as the registered agent: US CO RA LLC, according to state fi ling records. Both LLCs report their street address as 400 W. 48th Ave. in Denver, an offi ce build- ing that offers temporary daily offi ce rentals. They both list their mailing address as 9878 W. Belleview Ave. in Denver, which leads to a shipping center. Neither appears to have a public website or contact information. US CO RA LLC was formed in July 2025 with yet another entity as the registered agent: Rocky Mountain RA LLC. However, just fi ve hours after its formation, US CO RA changed its registered agent to itself. Rocky Mountain RA is an actual regis- tered agent service in Denver. The man who formed the company, Stephen Seskin, says the company did not give US CO RA permis- sion to list it as the registered agent. Seskin claims Rocky Mountain RA was unaware of the situation until he was contacted by West- word: “[US CO RA] fi led a change of agent almost immediately. That happened too fast for us to have detected it,” he explains. According to Seskin, this issue is not uncommon. Last year, a different business he calls “completely fraudulent” also listed Rocky Mountain RA as its registered agent without permission; Seskin provided a copy of the fraudulent business fi ling complaint he fi led with the Secretary of State’s Offi ce regarding that incident. Seskin says the company now plans to fi le a complaint against US CO RA. When registering an LLC, the fi ler has to provide their name, but there is no ID verifi ca- tion if they use an entity as the registered agent. So one can essentially write any name they want, real or fake. Yufeng Services was fi led by “Pengfei Liu,” using the Denver shipping center as his personal address. US CO RA was fi led by “Marcia S Whittier II,” using Rocky Mountain RA’s offi ce address as her personal address. Most of the fi ler names provided for Yufeng Services’ recently formed LLCs use generic Chinese surnames. Of the 20 most recent fi l- ings, 19 use common Chinese surnames includ- ing Liu, Zhang, Yang and Pan, with multiple repeats of the last names used, but no repeats of the fi rst names. The one notable exception is under the name Guillermo Eligio Weyer. A Facebook profi le with the exact same name has numerous comments from individuals alleg- ing that Weyer scammed them out of money. Many of the fraudulent entities caught abus- ing Colorado’s business registry have been con- nected to China, according to Weiser’s lawsuits. “Bad actors from around the world, largely operating out of China and Southeast Asia, have exploited Colorado’s business registry to create fraudulent entities on a massive scale,” one of the attorney general’s lawsuits read, “and have used those entities to perpetrate scams against consumers worldwide.” But ultimately, scammers engage in fraudu- lent fi lings because it is diffi cult to identify who controls an entity and where the entity operates. “It feels like a game of whack-a-mole,” Baldwin says. “For each one you knocked down, 100 more pop up.” Email the author at hannah.metzger@westword. com. NEWS KEEP UP ON DENVER NEWS AT WESTWORD.COM/NEWS One entity has formed more than 6,400 LLCs and corporations using addresses across Colorado, according to state fi ling records. GETT Y IMAGES/ATAKAN
