SCAM ALERT: Be wary of fraudulent procurement schemes, Seplat warns

Seplat Energy Plc has warned the public against fraudulent schemes being perpetrated by scammers.

The company issued the warning in a notice on its social media pages, on Thursday.

The energy firm said it is aware of various fraudulent correspondences being circulated via e-mail, internet websites, text messages, “and via regular mail.”

The communication, the company said, has been falsely informing recipients that they have been issued purchase orders (PO) or have been selected to participate in a request for quotations (RFQ)/invitation to tenders (ITTs).

ITTs are formal documents issued by companies inviting suppliers or contractors to submit a bid for a project or service.

“These scams, which may seek to obtain money and/or, in certain cases, personal details from the recipients of such correspondence, are fraudulent,” the statement reads.

“In some cases, the recipients are asked to pay money to specific companies in the UK who supposedly are OEMs of products being ordered.”

Seplat said these fraudulent activities are purportedly perpetrated in its name or “its officials, through different fraudulent schemes”.

“SEPLAT ENERGY does not charge a fee at any stage of its procurement process (supplier registration, bids submission) or other fees,” the statement further reads.

“Please visit our website via https://www.seplatenergy.com/our-company/our-business/partnering-with-us/our-vendors/ for more information.

“All tenders and RFQs are submitted to SEPLAT ENERGY e-Tender Portal and not to ANY other email address.

“The public is advised to be wary of correspondences bearing different domain names from that of SEPLAT, for the avoidance of doubt, SEPLAT ENERGY PLc’s domain remains @seplatenergy.com.

“SEPLAT ENERGY Plc strongly recommends that the recipients of such solicitations, as mentioned above, should exercise extreme caution in respect of such solicitations”

Seplat said financial loss and identity theft could result from the transfer of money or personal information to those issuing such fraudulent correspondence.

The company advised Nigerians to send an email to [email protected] to verify suspicious communications or when the veracity of any piece of information supposedly made by, or on behalf of the management is in doubt.