Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center

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Suspicious contract activity proliferates — watch out!

September 18, 2018 By Nancy Cleveland

The Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) continues to become aware of apparent contracting scams designed to trick unsuspecting vendors to deliver products for which they will receive no payment.

(You can view a compendium of articles about previously-identified scams at: https://gtpac.org/?s=scam.)

The latest example that’s come to our attention involves an email sent to vendors asking for a quote on some computer equipment.  The email is supposedly from a contracting representative with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Vendors are asked to quote on name-brand portable hard drives and two brands of laptop computers.  The solicitation document appears to be a version of the federal Standard Form 1449.  But there are several suspicious elements associated with the solicitation:

  • While the email purportedly is from the SEC’s headquarters, the document indicates that the SEC office is in Germany.
  • Place of delivery is not listed.
  • The solicitation is pre-signed by the contracting officer.
  • The solicitation number is not consistent with standard numbering.
  • The phone number provided could be a cell phone number.

We have seen suspicious documents like this before.  What can result is that a vendor will respond with pricing.  Then, the scam artist will respond by saying that the quote has been accepted and directing that the products be shipped to a particular address.  After that, all communication ceases.  The vendor is cheated out of products (plus the cost of shipping), and receives no payment.

Be alert to scams like this.  If you receive something that looks suspicious, call it to our attention.  We’ll help you figure out what to do.

Filed Under: GTPAC News Tagged With: abuse, alert, corruption, fraud, phishing, scam, spoofing

Warning: Don’t be duped into paying for GTPAC’s services — Our services are free of charge!

August 22, 2018 By Nancy Cleveland

It’s come to our attention that there are businesses receiving phony invoices presumably for services received from a Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC).  There is a national network of PTACs, and the Georgia Tech Procurement Assistance Center (GTPAC) is one of them.

GTPAC never charges for our counseling, training or bid match services.

The vast majority of PTACs don’t charge for their services, either.  When nominal fees are charged by a particular PTAC, those fees are clearly described in writing and in advance.

We want you to be aware of an active scam that is taking place right now.  Someone is sending out invoices in the name of the “American Procurement Technical Assistance Center.”   We know of no such organization.  However, all PTACs are members of a professional association known as APTAC — the Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers.  Our association never sends invoices or charges fees to PTAC clients.

The phony invoices are in the amount of $249 for “procurement technical assistance.”

If you receive such an invoice, do not pay it.

Also, if you receive such an invoice, do everyone a favor and forward it via email to GTPAC at gtpacatl@innovate.gatech.edu

 

This is a copy of the phony invoice. If you receive it, don’t pay it!   Instead, forward it to GTPAC so that we can continue to warn others about this scam.

Filed Under: GTPAC News Tagged With: abuse, alert, corruption, fraud, phony invoice, scam

Beware of Affordable Care Act phishing campaign

January 20, 2015 By ei2admin

The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has issued an alert about a phishing campaign purporting to come from a federal government agency. The phishing emails reference the Affordable Care Act in the subject line and claim to direct users to health coverage information, but instead direct them to sites which attempt to elicit private information or install malicious code.

US-CERT encourages users to take the following measures to protect themselves:

  • Do not follow links or download attachments in unsolicited email messages.
  • Maintain up-to-date antivirus software.
  • Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks Security Tip for additional information on social engineering attacks.

If affected by the campaign, users should report the incident to appropriate parties within their organization and notify US-CERT.

Filed Under: Contracting Tips Tagged With: alert, anti-virus, phishing, social engineering, US-CERT

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