The U.S. Department of Agriculture is warning vendors who wish to participate in USDA food purchase programs of a possible phishing scheme that uses emails portraying Agricultural Marketing Service solicitations for bids.
One version of the phony email, according to a news release, has the subject line “Agriculture Marketing Service USDA Solicitation” and the body of the email refers to a “BID No: RFQ AMS-Procure-020-01117-USDA” with a “Due Date: 02/31/2021.” The email requests that you “sign in with your email provider to generate a unique bid identification number (BIN).” Another version states that “The Office of Procurement, Agricultural Marketing Services USDA invites you to submit quotations for the supply of products, services and commodities for the Department of Agriculture projects” with a “Due Date of 26 Feb 2021.”
If you receive an email like the two described do not respond or click any of the links and immediately delete the original email, according to the USDA release.
Official solicitations for USDA bidding opportunities are distributed through GovDelivery and are available on the AMS Commodity Procurement Program Solicitations and Awards webpage.
For more information about this issue, contact the Commodity Procurement Program at (202)-720-4517.
