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News October 13, 2023

Scammers Target Promo Firms, Posing as Buyers From Clemson, Cornell & Ohio University

The criminal approaches under a number of spoofed identities in a short timeframe suggest industry companies should have their antennas up for potential cons.

By  Christopher Ruvo

The number of identities of real buyers that scammers are using to try to swindle promotional products distributors and suppliers may be growing.

For several years now distributors have reported to ASI Media about fraudsters pretending to be Michael Pidcock, a real purchasing manager at Ohio University.

Through communications in emails or website inquiry forms, the crooks pose as Pidcock and try to place orders for products – often flash drives – for which they will never pay. Sadly, some distributors have been victimized.

scam hacker

Within approximately the last week, promo firms reported at least three instances in which con artists made essentially the same approach but did so under identities of university employees other than Pidcock.

It’s not the first time, of course, that real buyers’ identities other than Pidcock have been spoofed by criminals.

Still, the fact that all three identities are of real people apparently at real universities and that the outreach came within a tight timeframe should have promo firms especially leery of digital inquiries seemingly out of the blue from supposedly college-based buyers, especially if they’re requesting technology products or drinkware, promo pros say.

‘Never Seen the Name Nebesky in a Scam Email’

Rich Graham received two of the requests within a few days of each other.

The C-Suiter at distributor BigPromotions.net quickly spotted both inquiries as fakes. Unlike more sophisticated fraud approaches that have popped up of late, the bogus order requests Graham got were replete with blaring red flags.

One con approach purported to come from Mike Nebesky, who is, as the scammer represented, procurement director at Clemson University in South Carolina. Graham sniffed out the ruse immediately.

ASI Media editors Christopher Ruvo and Theresa Hegel unpack how scams aimed at promo are becoming more cunning and provide tips to keep from getting conned.

For starters, the email address – purchasing@clemson-du.com – definitely wasn’t a legit Clemson URL. Then there was no contact information for “Nebesky” below his email signature and the request was worded in a way that suggested the writer didn’t have an ideal command of English grammar – it just sounded off, too: “From Clemson University in the city of Clemson, S.C. Procurement office, We need to supply the School Department with the below products, quote the available ones,” the message read. “Looking forward to reading back from you shortly.”

The products requested also got Graham’s fraud radar blinking – “electronics,” “church music supplies,” “microphones,” and flash drives, among others. It was clearly a con. “I didn’t respond to this request,” says Graham. “I’ve seen the ‘Pidcock’ scam probably about 10 times in my career, but I’ve never seen the name ‘Nebesky’ or Clemson in a scam email before that I can remember. That got my attention.”

ASI Media contacted Nebesky for comment but hasn’t heard back as of this writing. Still, the purchasing department at Clemson appears to be aware that these spoofing scams – aimed at promo firms and likely other vendors – are afoot.

A message on the Clemson website directly addresses the issue with a warning and helpful advice.

“Procurement Services is aware of fraudulent emails being sent to suppliers replying to a price request,” the message says. “Please be aware that legitimate requests for quotes would be sent directly from our online bidding system (@ionwave.net) or from one of our contract officers (@clemson.edu). Purchase Orders are sent directly from our eProcurement system (support@sciquest.com)... If you would like to verify the legitimacy of the email you’ve received, please forward it to supplier@clemson.edu.”

Another Ohio University Employee’s Identity Spoofed

A few days later, scammers once more zeroed in on Graham.

This time they contacted him through a web form pretending to be Michael Tedesco. Interestingly, Tedesco is listed as being an information technology support specialist at Ohio University – a twist in that Pidcock also works at that school.

A savvy pro, Graham saw the request for a quote on 7,000 flash drives for the fraud it was. The product request itself was suspect. The email address given – procurement@ohio-edu.org – was plainly not connected with the university. The message also referred to “The University of Ohio;” the educational institution’s correct name is “Ohio University.”

“The large orders for big institutions are pretty easy to spot,” says Graham. “It’s the smaller orders for seemingly legit high schools or charities that are more difficult. You really have to be on your toes out here in these internet streets. It’s crazy out here.”

‘Budget – $1,000,000’

A supposed large order for a big institution was in fact one of the glaring tells in a scam attempt advanced against Massachusetts-based supplier Beantown Blankets (asi/39138) on Oct. 7.

The crook represented that they were a buyer from Cornell University – “Mike Winters, assistant director of Cornell Procurement and Payment Services.” The Cornell website lists the real Winters as leading Campus Services, a role that involves improving procurement transaction processes, bidding process administration, training resources and customer service.

The fraudster said they were interested in buying pillows and blankets – 30,000 units – as college promotional items. The stated budget was for $1 million, with a desired delivery date of Oct. 31. The crook wanted net 30 payment terms.

There were a number of tip-offs that exposed the fake. The email address was again unequivocally not part of Cornell – cornelledu@consultant.com. The enormous budget, the unsolicited large quantity request, the fact that the message was addressed to “Dear Sir/Madam,” and even that Winters’ title wasn’t quite correct – all helped make it evident the request wasn’t real.

“I received the scam where they posed as being from Ohio University over the summer and this request from ‘Cornell’ had a similar look,” says Maxwell Perry, founder and president of Beantown Blankets. “When it seems too good to be true, it usually is.”

Given the high frequency and similarity of the scam attempts, certain promo executives believe that an organized racket or rackets is targeting the industry.

It should be noted that there’s no evidence that Pidcock, Winters, Tedesco, Nebesky or other legitimate business pros being spoofed are in any way involved in the scams. They are victims whose identities are being exploited for nefarious gain by criminals.

Those criminals, who often request net payment terms, want to procure the product, never pay for it, and then sell it on the illegal market, it’s widely believed. The fact that they’ve had success, in some cases, is carrot enough to keep them continuing with the cons. As such, distributors and suppliers should be on guard.