got the following e-mail:

Attention PTAC clients:

Equifax Corporate Security has received notice that businesses are receiving fraudulent letters appearing to be from Equifax. These 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". Sample from this letter:

?Our records show that you are currently registered as a prospective contractor for procurements listed by the U.S. Federal Government.However after reviewing your records we have noticed that you have not submitted your financial release form. Your financial institution?s privacy policy may not allow it to release your financial information even to government institutions without your consent, therefore we must have such form on file before we can move on with any procurement decisions.?

The Authorization to release financial information requests that you provide the name of your financial institution and the account number and fax to (202) 652-4312.

This letter is a scam and not from Equifax. Other versions of this letter have been sent out to businesses purporting to be from the Department of Transportation as well as from other companies. These letters are a fraudulent means to obtain financial information. Please discard these letters.

If you have responded to this fraudulent letter, contact your financial institution immediately.



Lisa Wood
Statewide PTAC Director
Office of Business Assistance
614.644.1637
Lisa.Wood@development.ohio.gov

Guess they changed the name & number, but same scam.  Mine came from Kyle Manning, Senior Credit Analyst at Equifax.  The fax number was 202-350-9586 for returning info.  Have had many scams like this by email, but this was my first fax scam.  There is no way anyone should ever "fax" that kind of information to anyone without knowing exactly who it is going to.  I would hope everyone would find it a little suspicious that there is not a voice phone number to verify where this is actually coming from - that should be a dead givaway that it is a SCAM.

Just received a similar fax from"Equifax" requesting information on our company.  It showed our DUNS and SIC info.  Thanks. This site was very helpful

Got this fax and it is from Russia, tried to take $23,000 out of our business account. Wish I would have found this site earlier.  Will use it from now on.

"Unknown Name"

We just received this as well.  I was VERY suspicious, since I have never received one of these in the last 35 years of selling to MANY State and Federal depts.  Thanks to this forum and other's postings for confirming my suspicions..
It also had our DUNS # and SIC
What made me even more suspicious is, the logo is very ragged and scanned image, but the text is much sharper.  An obvious cut'n'paste forgery.
Signed by: Equifax, Michael McCain, Senior Credit Analyst

Just got this trash from our fax machine...People please remember our government never asks for such information and by now one would think we all would be sharp enough not to see right off the bat that this is clearly a scam.  Forgive me but I thought I would have a little fun and have dubbed the "Caller  Company's" rep as the famous George Parker.  Parker was the guy who sold the Brooklyn Bridge at least twice a week for years convincing his marks that they could make a fortune by controlling access to the roadway. More than once police had to remove naive buyers from the bridge as they tried to erect toll barriers.  Other public landmarks he sold included the original Madison Square Garden, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Grant?s Tomb, and the Statue of Liberty.

His exploits have passed into popular culture, giving rise to phrases such as ?and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you?, a popular way of expressing a belief that someone is gullible, and now we have the sad fakes known as EQUIFAX!

Usually some of the information on the fax purportedly from Equifax is in error (i.e., Lock Box Address rather than Street Address) and / or the fax is not addressed to the recipient's DOD listed primary point of contact (POC), which is a clear indication that it did not get generated based on a request from the DOD, CCR, ORCA, ITAR or other legitimate DOD source.


Report this activity (fraudulent inquiry / attempted identity phishing in the name of Equifax -re: fax no. 202-652-4316) to the National Fraud Information Center, Po Box 65868, Washington, DC  65868
Phone:  800-876-7060
www.fraud.org

We have received a fax from Equifax and thought that it as strange to receive a request for banking information.  The request has been torn up.

Looks like a total scam. We received a fax saying they are from equifax.

Another number used is 202-652-4312. I miss stated earlier. This is the number where the failed theft originated from.

The latest one I received even included included our DUNS number and our SIC code. Our information must be getting harvested from DUNS.

If you look up 202-652-4319 you will find the same kind of fax with same wording from same people. the difference is, I found at least one company that fell for it and almost got their bank accounts emptied and transferred to Russia. Luck for them a bank official stopped it first.

Definitely a scam. This is not the way Government contracts work.

Received one of the Equifax request for bank information.  This is a scam.  I have been DOD contractor for 30 years and this not a normal procedure.  Finacial backgrounds are reviewed only after a DOD contract has been issued and a pre award conference is called.

We have received 3 of these same notices all with different names but the exact same signature...looks fraudulant to me.

We received a fax from "Equifax" saying we should provide Company bank information in order to provide credit ratings to credit ratings agencies and government institutions.  They do not have a phone number to call, only the fax number.  This seems unsolicited and therefore questionable as to its legitimacy.