Thu Mar 5, 2009 10:59 am (PST)
There has been another round of fraudulent letters issued to U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) contractors and potential contractors purporting to be issued by DOT. These fraudulent letters request that current or potential contractors register by submitting their company's financial information on a release form entitled, "Authorization to release financial information". They are dated January 27, 2009, and signed by "John Steinberg."
Please be aware that DOT does not require any financial information to be submitted in order to be eligible for procurement.
In addition to this most recent example, the following is a list of fraudulent letters to date which have been faxed out to current or potential contractors:
December 29, 2005, signed by "Frank M. Orell"
February 8, 2006, signed by "Randy Cohen"
April 27, 2006, signed by "Dan Jacobs"
July 28, 2006, signed by "Dan Jacobs"
November 8, 2006, signed by "Lisa Johnson"
February 26, 2007, signed by "Lisa Johnson"
March 26, 2007, signed by "Jason Scarlett"
May 10, 2007, signed by "Jason Scarlett"
July 11, 12, and 20, 2007, signed by "George Mason"
August 27 and 28, 2007, signed by "Julie P. Wenzel"
September 10, 2007, signed by "Julie P. Wenzel"
October 12, 2007, signed by "Julie P. Wenzel"
October 21, 2007, signed by "Julie P. Wenzel"
January 28, 2008, signed by "Julie P. Weynel"
February 7, March 3, March 31, 2008, signed by "Bradley K. Wash"
April 1, 2008, signed by "Bradley K. Wash"
April 28, 2008, signed by "Bradley K. Wash"
June 3, 2008, signed by "Robert Dal"
June 4, 2008, signed by "James Buchanan"
September 5, 2008, signed by "David Jacobson"
October 20, 2008, signed by "Jennifer Donaldson"
December 8, 2008, signed by "Jennifer Stewart"
December 19, 2008, signed by "Jeffrey Steinberg"
All letters were signed as the Senior Procurement Officer.
The USDOT has issued the following warning: "Please DO NOT complete the release form which is attached to the letter and DO NOT release any information to the facsimile number cited in the letter."
To view an example of the latest letters being sent out to contracting personnel, visit: www.dot.gov/ost/m60/jsteinberg_012709.pdf. The point of contact concerning these fraudulent letters is the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General Hotline at
(800) 424-9071.
If you receive a letter, validate it valiadity. Then contact the DOT Doctor for preparation for your audit. (
