The Purchasing and Payment Services team wants to make the Vanderbilt community aware of recent attempts by malicious actors to make purchases by fraudulently using the names and information of Vanderbilt officials and university departments.
These schemes use publicly available information to place orders on Vanderbilt’s behalf, but indicate that items should be delivered to non-Vanderbilt—and often, out-of-state—addresses, prompting vendors to contact Vanderbilt departments for verification.
Should a Vanderbilt department be contacted by a vendor regarding what they suspect is a fraudulent purchase, the VU employee should report the activity to the Purchasing team at PurchasingServices@vanderbilt.edu or 615-343-6601.
Please note: Since these fraudulent orders do not include a valid Vanderbilt purchase order or contract, the university is not liable for payment should they be processed.