Fraud awareness for UofG suppliers
Published: 26 August 2020
Please be aware of ongoing fraudulent activities, targeting suppliers to the University
The University’s Procurement Office wishes to make suppliers aware of an ongoing campaign to target businesses by fraudsters posing as the University.
The fraudsters are employing sophisticated means to impersonate the University by sending emails to small and medium-sized businesses, purporting to be purchasing orders from the University.
The University email ID is @glasgow.ac.uk, any other variation is not from the University of Glasgow. The correct telephone number for the University starts with the country code for the UK +44, area code is (0) 141, telephone number starts with 330 followed by a 4-digit landline number XXXX.
Suppliers are asked to pay particular attention to:
- the email addresses used by the fraudsters, who set up email addresses which are very similar to the real email address of the University;
- the telephone numbers used in the email, which also look very similar to the University’s phone numbers;
- and, in particular, to the location where suppliers are asked to send goods ordered. Valid purchase orders from the University will specify that goods should be delivered to its main campus or campuses at Gilmorehill, University Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Garscube Campus, Bearsden Rd, Glasgow G61 1AH or Crichton University Campus, Dumfries, DG1 4ZL.
The fraudulent orders ask the suppliers to send deliveries to other parts of the UK or even to locations abroad – this is a clear indicator that the order is fraudulent therefore, please do not action.
The University has drawn this fraudulent activity to the attention of Police Scotland and is working with the Scottish Business Resilience Centre, which works in partnership with Police Scotland, the Scottish Government and other agencies and organisations to build resilience in the business community to organised crime.
If any supplier believes it has been targeted by fraudsters posing as the University’s Procurement Office, they should draw this to the attention of Police Scotland.
This type of fraudulent activity has become increasingly prolific, particularly since lockdown measures were implemented. The University would encourage all suppliers to be particularly vigilant.
First published: 26 August 2020