Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 12:36:24 -0800
From: Rick Anderson (Univ. of NV-Reno) <rickand_at_unr.edu>
Subject: Scam warning -- National Info-Tech Center (NIC)
Dear ACQNETers,
Be on the lookout for invoices from the National Info-Tech Center. The
invoices will be buff or beige in color with a blue "NIC" logo in the
upper
left-hand corner. The NIC is aggressively pursuing the standard
directory
scam -- they call you up, "confirm" your address, then send you an
invoice
for several hundred dollars to cover your listing in the directory. As
usual, they avoid uncomfortable conversations with informed librarians
by
targeting staff members outside of the Acquisitions and Serials
departments; in our case, one of our systems people fielded (and
successfully rebuffed) one such call, but the company had more luck
with a student employee in one of our branch libraries.
What is noteworthy about the NIC's approach is that this company is much
more aggressive than others I've encountered over the years. Most of
these
scammers will hang up on you as soon as you start asking questions.
These
guys actually return your calls. And when I asked if they had a
recording
of the student "authorizing" the order, they actually said yes and set
up
an appointment to play the recording for me over the phone! (They did
not
offer, however, to play back the part in which the student tried to get
them to call back and talk to his supervisor and they bullied him into
going
through the "authorization" process himself.) The recording confirmed
my
suspicions; the caller had obviously been trained to emphasize innocuous
questions like "Is this your correct address?" while rushing through
questions like "Do I need a purchase order number or can I just send
this
to your attention as the authorized purchaser?"
Needless to say, we will not be paying this invoice. If any of you have
received invoices from this company in the recent past, I strongly
suggest
that you double-check and challenge them as appropriate. However, be
prepared for a fairly aggressive reaction from the company.
-------------
Rick Anderson
Director of Resource Acquisition
The University Libraries
University of Nevada, Reno
1664 No. Virginia St.
Reno, NV 89557
PH (775) 784-6500 x273
FX (775) 784-1328
rickand_at_unr.edu
Received on Tue Nov 12 2002 - 19:28:41 EST