SAM Suspects Fraudulent Activity in the System

The U.S. General Services Administrations’ (GSA) Office of Inspector General has launched an investigation into alleged third-party fraudulent activity in SAM, including the alleged diversion of government payments into third-party accounts.  The email was from samadmin@sam.gov and is an indication that your SAM account has been compromised – so you should follow the instructions listed in the email.

GSA has already taken proactive steps to address this issue and has notified affected entities, which include those entities whose financial information has changed within the last year. Those entities are being advised to validate their registration information, particularly their financial information.

Here’s more of what you need to know:

I did not get that email, but I have a SAM registration.  What should I do?

We recommend that you login to your SAM account at www.sam.gov  and follow these steps:

1. Once logged in, click on “Entity Registrations”
2. Click on “Existing Entity Registrations”
3. Click on the name of your entity
4. Click on “Update Entity”
5. Begin the process of updating your entity’s information paying particularly close attention to:
6. Financial Information Page (electronic funds transfer / bank account information)
7. Taxpayer Identification Page (your EIN or SSN information)
8. Points of Contact Page (phone numbers and email addresses)
9. If the information is still correct, you may logout or submit your SAM registration for renewal.
10. If the information has been changed, your account has likely been compromised. Complete the following steps:
    1. Update/correct the information in SAM and submit your updated SAM registration.
    2. Report this immediately the Federal Service Desk at fsd.gov, or by telephone at 866-606-8220 (toll free) or 334-206-7828 (internationally).

I am not yet registered in SAM but plan to register in the future.  What does this mean for me?

Because of suspected fraudulent activity, GSA has added a step to the registration process for new SAM enrollees. You must now mail an original, signed notarized letter identifying the authorized Entity Administrator for the entity associated with your company’s DUNS number before a new SAM entity registration will be activated.

This notarized letter needs to:

• Be on your company/organization letterhead
• Be signed by your company President, CEO, or other authorized signature authority
• Contain your company/organization DUNS Number
• Contain your company/organization Legal Business Name (as associated with the DUNS Number)
• Contain your company/organization physical address (as associated with the DUNS Number)
• Contain the new Entity Administrator’s name, phone number, address, and email address
• Contain the following statement above the signature block of your letter with the appropriate information inserted where noted:

“The purpose of this notarized letter is to designate [insert name of Entity Administrator] as Entity Administrator for [insert Legal Business Name]. I, [insert Name and Title of signatory], hereby confirm that [insert name of Entity Administrator] is an authorized officer, agent, or representative of [insert entity Legal Business Name, or, for individuals representing themselves, say him/herself]. This letter will authorize [insert name of Entity Administrator] to have access to the System for Award Management (SAM). SAM is a computer system managed by the U.S. Government, and it is only accessible by individuals who are either authorized to represent a particular entity, or by individuals representing themselves. Accessing or using SAM, or information contained therein, for any unauthorized or illegal purposes, may have civil and criminal penalties, and may negatively impact the status of the SAM registration maintained on this entity. I, the below-signed, attest to the accuracy of all information contained in this letter.”

This letter should be mailed to:

FEDERAL SERVICE DESK
ATTN: SAM.GOV REGISTRATION PROCESSING
100 CAPITOL COMMERCE BLVD STE 309
MONTGOMERY AL 36117-4260

If you have any questions, please contact your CIRAS Government Contracting Specialist.

Jodie Essex can be reached at jodir@iastate.edu or 515-509-0769.