The perpetrators remain unidentified. The USPTO has not disclosed how many applicants have fallen victim to these scams or how much money has been lost. What is clear: the agency has issued administrative orders in 2026 targeting filing firms that impersonate it and invent fake fees, resulting in the removal of over 10,500 invalid trademark filings in six months.
Trademark applicants should know that the USPTO never schedules mandatory verification calls, never sends invoices by email, and communicates only through official Office Actions in the Trademark Electronic Application System. Any communication claiming otherwise is fraudulent. Suspicious emails should be reported to uspto-scam@uspto.gov or the Federal Trade Commission. Responding to these scams risks financial loss and potential invalidation of legitimate applications.