New City, NY, – County Executive Ed Day and Director of Purchasing Paul Brennan announced that the County’s Purchasing Division has identified a scam in which fraudulent purchase orders are being sent to businesses, which appear to come from government agencies.
Scammers are utilizing look-a-like email addresses to make it appear that pricing is being requested from local governments and even federal government agencies. The scammers then issue a fraudulent purchase order that appears to come from a government agency; however, the purchase order requests that the items be shipped to a location not associated with the government agency.
The scammers appear to be targeting companies that sell computer equipment and audio-visual type equipment. Fraudulent purchase orders are issued for quantities much larger than a government agency would normally purchase.
“Businesses should carefully review purchase orders received from government agencies and confirm their authenticity, especially if the quantities ordered are significant and if the requested delivery address differs from the normal delivery address,” said Purchasing Director Paul Brennan.
This scam is currently under investigation by several law enforcement agencies.
“Any business that wants to validate that they have received an official Rockland County Purchase Order should contact our Purchasing Division at purchasing@co.rockland.ny.us or by calling 845-364-3820. I urge everyone to do their due diligence and not fall victim to these scammers,” concluded County Executive Day.
The link to this article can be found at https://www.rocklandtimes.com/2019/10/24/county-warns-businesses-of-purchase-order-scam-regarding-local-government-purchase-orders/