***Scam Alert***

The Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) and Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO), are aware of a scam involving the impersonation of procurement and acquisition officials, with fraudulent requests for quotes and purchase orders. The requests typically involve Information Technology (IT) equipment, such as laptop computers, external hard drives, and tablets, but could also include medical equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE).

Please do not engage with these entities via email and/or telephone. OCPO does not award contracts without first issuing a request for quotation (RFQ) or request for proposal (RFP) through the Governmentwide point of entry (GPE) at www.fbo.gov. OCPO is working with HUD OIG in the investigation of these scams. If you believe you have been contacted as part of this scam, please notify HUD OIG immediately. You can notify HUD OIG by calling the HUD OIG Hotline at 1-800-347-3735 or visiting www.hudoig.gov/hotline.

For more detailed information regarding the scam and how to avoid it, please check HUD OIG’s recent bulletin on the issue at https://www.hudoig.gov/sites/default/files/2021-05/OIG%20Bulletin%20-%20Transnational%20Fraud.pdf