Secretary of State Hammond Warns Businesses of Document Request Scams News Provided By Share This Article Today South Carolina Secretary of State Mark Hammond issued an updated advisory regarding continued scams offering to sell bogus documents and certified copies to businesses. “Our office continues to receive complaints from businesses regarding solicitations that offer to provide phony certificates and certified records from the Secretary of State’s Office, at a significant upcharge from fees currently permitted by statute. Last month, our office began receiving complaints about an entity called SC Certificate Service selling bogus ‘South Carolina Certificates of Status’ for $87.25. Now, we are receiving additional complaints about an entity called ‘Division of Corporate Services,’ or ‘D.O.C.S.,’ selling certified copies of articles of organization for $79.25. Businesses and consumers need to know that neither of these entities are connected with the Secretary of State’s Office, and that they are not required to respond to these solicitations in order to conduct business in our state.”