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FAA Renewal Scam


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This email came from my local EAA chapter.  Scams have been around since the beginning of time. Always know the truth and ask questions if there is doubt.

There is a company that has inserted itself into the N-number renewal process “as a convenience” to aircraft owners.

 

The company is called: National Aviation Center.  (www.nationalaviationcenter.us)

 

I received an official looking letter reminding me of my pending renewal and the letter provided me with “friendly instructions” on how to renew – through them.  Of course, there is a fee.

 

They get the renewal dates (a public record) and then contact the aircraft owners asking for renewals.  They make the documents look official and something like you would expect from the FAA.  They are fishing for renewals from people who are unaware.  You can still easily renew through the FAA website and the FAA will send you a postcard (including your web PIN) before your renewal is due.  (FYI, this “steal the renewal for a fee” has been a common ploy for years with regard to domain name renewals. )

 

The company also offers other aircraft related services.  Again, these are things that you can do directly on the FAA website for much less cost.  Everyone should be aware that they also pay for “top-of-page” Google search returns whenever you search aircraft related stuff.

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Not really a scam; it is a processing service. eAPIS has the same "scams" that masquerade as an official U.S. Customs & Border Protection service yet have zero affiliation with the Fed. 

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It's a common thing which has "finally" made its way to aviation. Takes a renewal of a governmental license, permit or privilege and bumps the price up substantially to do it for you. The worst prey on those who don't know although it can be useful in some situations.

Whether charging a $60 fee to perform a $5 task that takes less time on faa.gov than it does to fill in their form is a scam is a matter of perspective :D 

 

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4 minutes ago, tigers2007 said:

Not really a scam; it is a processing service. eAPIS has the same "scams" that masquerade as an official U.S. Customs & Border Protection service yet have zero affiliation with the Fed. 

You mean other than the eapis.cbp.dhs.gov address?

Edited by midlifeflyer
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Its a professional service. They are targeting a pool of clientele that are willing to trade wealth for less (perceived) hassle.  Attorney's, CPA's, etc. all do a similar task. For example, I was receiving physical therapy and the poor chap discussed how he was 15 AMU's in the hole with an immigration attorney working on importing his parents from Africa. Even though he had already was committed with the attorney, I pointed him to the USCIS web site where he could do everything for "free" (minus the Federal filing fees). I believe he petitioned for his brothers for "free".  Same with I-192 Waiver applications (for aliens that are unable to enter the USA due to criminal history, etc.). Its only $500 or so the last I checked but attorney's charge THOUSANDS and make the client do almost all of the work anyways. 

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9 minutes ago, midlifeflyer said:

You mean other than the eapis.cbp.dhs.gov address?

Anything other than a Fed website would generally be a private service (not that the Fed doesn't contract out with private firms like Leidos, SAIC, etc.). I have encountered private eAPIS services in the past; they definitely exist. 

This is still a good thread though. Too many people being duped into paying $$$$ for simple menial tasks. 

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I've gotten these things in the mail and they go straight into the trash. It's trivially easy to renew registration via the FAA site (once you find the link). 

As long as the third-party services will get your registration renewed, I don't mind them existing, but it definitely feels like a solution in search of a problem. 

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1 hour ago, toto said:

As long as the third-party services will get your registration renewed, I don't mind them existing, but it definitely feels like a solution in search of a problem. 

More like a hand in search of someone else's wallet . . . .

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7 hours ago, tigers2007 said:

Its a professional service. They are targeting a pool of clientele that are willing to trade wealth for less (perceived) hassle.  Attorney's, CPA's, etc. all do a similar task. For example, I was receiving physical therapy and the poor chap discussed how he was 15 AMU's in the hole with an immigration attorney working on importing his parents from Africa. Even though he had already was committed with the attorney, I pointed him to the USCIS web site where he could do everything for "free" (minus the Federal filing fees). I believe he petitioned for his brothers for "free".  Same with I-192 Waiver applications (for aliens that are unable to enter the USA due to criminal history, etc.). Its only $500 or so the last I checked but attorney's charge THOUSANDS and make the client do almost all of the work anyways. 

There's a difference here. There are plenty of pitfalls other than (perceived) hassle in many of these other situations. You mention immigration. I'm a lawyer and I'd hire a specialist if I was dealing with an immigration issue, especially these days. Same is sort of true of the one I'm most familiar with. I've seen the federal trademark renewal one for decades. Yes, doing it is simple, but there is just enough technicality involved one just might not want to go it alone. And bringing it home to aviation, most of us have seen enough kick-backs of applications for registration after a sale kicked back for defects in either the Bill of Sale or application that would not have happened if someone experienced were handling it. 

OTOH, while it won't break the bank, and I don't really see it as a "scam," let me ask a question of the owners here who have renewed through https://amsrvs.registry.faa.gov/renewregistration/: is there anything in National's online form which is in any way different in terms of hassle, length of time, mistake which can be made, etc, that is different than doing it through the FAA for a basic renewal? Even pretending to go through the system requires being an owner or I'd check for myself.

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It took me literally 3 min to renew my registration online with the FAA and it seemed it was in my mail box in record time of under 10 days.
Although the service is NOT a scam, as I have no reason to believe they don’t renew your registration for you. But I certainly agree only naive owners will use them and probably at LESS convenience, greater delay and certainly at more expense!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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3 hours ago, Ah-1 Cobra Pilot said:

The thing that makes these sort of sites scams is that you spend just as much time answering the questions to them as you would directly to the federal site.  If you do not answer any questions, then they are really scams, since the information may not be accurate.

I just got home from work and visited the web site on my personal PC. They ask the same questions. $65 fee.

"Terms and Conditions

© 2019 National Aviation Center. All Rights Reserved. National Aviation Center is NOT the FAA or the Federal Aviation Administration; we are a third party private agency that handles FAA Registration processing to the Federal Aviation Administration. "

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It's not all that easy...

My registration is coming up for renewal. But I'm also moving. The only way to update the address on my rego is to either Mail or Fax the updated information to the FAA. There is no online option. When it comes to the renewal, the only way to do it online is if I have the postcard the FAA will send notifying me of the impending renewal date. There is a code on the card that is required. Of course, the postcard will likely go to the wrong address. Either way, the post office/snail mail is involved. Welcome back to the 19th century.

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It's not all that easy...
My registration is coming up for renewal. But I'm also moving. The only way to update the address on my rego is to either Mail or Fax the updated information to the FAA. There is no online option. When it comes to the renewal, the only way to do it online is if I have the postcard the FAA will send notifying me of the impending renewal date. There is a code on the card that is required. Of course, the postcard will likely go to the wrong address. Either way, the post office/snail mail is involved. Welcome back to the 19th century.

For what it’s worth the FAA post card is sent out 3 months in advance. So even if it takes an extra week or two to get forwarded to your new address you should still get it in plenty of time. I had my new one within 10 days of doing the online update.



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Ok, sounds like the definition of “scam,” is the deciding factor. My definition is paying 12x the cost of something that you would do anyway without the “service” that is offered.  Some scams are nice and professional but the reality is just handle it with the FAA for $5.00.  Hiring someone to replace the hard drive in your computer for $300 vs doing it yourself for $100 is not necessarily a scam. You may have zero technical skills nor the time to do it and it’s worth paying the extra.$200. 

This has turned into a good thought provoking thread. The bottom line is you will save a lot of money the more you do yourself assuming the opportunity cost doesn’t outweigh the benefit.  Yes, I pulled out the old Economics 101 from thirty years ago by adding opportunity cost to the forum matrix. :)

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No different than the dozens of "services" that send me letters that the domain for my company website is about to expire and that I should send them $100 to renew it and avoid the domain from being shut down and auctioned off.

Of course Go Daddy automatically renews it for me at $8.00 a year.

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  • 9 months later...

Even if this is "legal" Can we at least agree that it is clearly predatory and the "notices" in the mail are an attempt at impersonating an official government agency?  I feel like I couldn't get away with selling pop-si cola as long as these scammers have been in business.  Look up brand infringement.  Total Sketch these guys.

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These people are scammers and prey on the uninformed. Depending on the state in which you live, their methods might in fact be illegal.
Here is a link to Florida law concerning Government imposter and deceptive advertisements. Check the law in your state and report these bottom feeders. http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0800-0899/0817/Sections/0817.417.html

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  • 5 months later...

I agree this should be illegal. Especially since there is a field on their website for entering the Security Code which is only in the actual letter from the FAA. They can do nothing with this code and its only purpose is to deceive. 

Edited by DanP
grammar
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On 8/18/2020 at 6:18 PM, DanP said:

I agree this should be illegal. Especially since there is a field on their website for entering the Security Code which is only in the actual letter from the FAA. They can do nothing with this code and its only purpose is to deceive. 

I just got one of these.  Oddly enough, I received the renewal form from the FAA TWO WEEKS AGO!    The FAA beat the scammers!

Like @kortopates I did it immediately online for $5.00.   I received the new registration last Friday!  What service!

What a scam.   'nuf said.

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