Notice to Suppliers and Potential Suppliers of Fraudulent Email Activity Involving Purchase Orders
This notice is to alert you to an active email scam involving purchase orders and requests for product and service quotations that purport to originate from the University of Denver, but are, in fact, fraudulent. While the University cannot fully prevent this illegal activity, it has notified law enforcement, and remains vigilant in its efforts to identify and combat fraud.
Please be cautious of, and alert to, potentially fraudulent emails and order documentation. Carefully review unsolicited POs purporting to be from the University, especially if DU is not already a client of yours. The following are common traits and themes found in these fraudulent emails that may help you recognize and reduce the risk these financial scams pose to your company:
- The email message is poorly written, with misspellings and awkward sentence structure.
- The sender's email address or website link are not authentic to DU.
- The message requests shipment of product to non-DU addresses.
- The message may include attachments designed to look like DU purchase orders, logos or other graphics, and signatures that seem authentic. Check thoroughly for misspellings, inconsistencies, and others errors that may indicate these are illegitimate.
If you have any questions regarding the authenticity of a purchase order or request for quotation purporting to be from DU, please contact Procurement Services directly at procurement@du.edu. If you you have received an email purporting to be from DU that you suspect may be fraudulent, please forward it to Procurement Services at procurement@du.edu to verify its legitimacy before clicking any attachments, replying to it, or filling its order.
We understand this may be part of a massive nationwide scam targeting educational institutions in particular. The University accepts no liability for goods shipped based on fraudulent emails, purchase orders, or other documentation purporting to be from DU, and will not pay invoices, damages, or expenses of any supplier deceived by the fraud.
Procurement Services and the University of Denver value our partnerships with suppliers, and appreciate the important role they play in serving our faculty, students, and staff. Please be assured that we are reporting all fraudulent activity of which we become aware to the appropriate personnel.
