Certified organic operations should be on alert for a phishing scam misusing USDA branding to deceive recipients into possibly sharing sensitive information. CCOF has heard from clients that fraudulent emails are being sent under false pretenses, using USDA logos, banners, and other official-looking elements to appear legitimate.<\/p>\n
These emails, claiming to come from the USDA, have been sent from fake email addresses such as:<\/p>\n
Fake Sender: Hillary Brown, Compliance Manager AMS-USDA <hillary.brown@organic.ams.usda.fed.agriculture.marianaciriani.com> <\/strong><\/p>\n Subject: Organic Integrity Certification USDA 44876<\/strong><\/p>\n These phishing emails attempt to trick recipients into clicking on fraudulent links or providing confidential details, falsely claiming that failure to comply will result in certification suspension or revocation. However, these messages do not originate from the USDA.<\/p>\n Key warning signs of phishing emails include:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2705 Suspicious sender email addresses mimicking official domains What to Do If You Receive a Suspicious Email<\/strong><\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8 Do not click any links, respond, or provide information. Protecting the Organic Community<\/strong><\/p>\n We urge USDA to take action by issuing a public notice and posting a visible warning on the Organic Integrity Database to help safeguard certified operations. Increased awareness and vigilance are essential in preventing fraud and protecting organic businesses from cyber threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Los operadores ecol\u00f3gicos certificados deben estar alerta ante una estafa de phishing ...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":64210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"0","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"33965,51784,32729,33938,66015,45023,66165,66180,40123,39097","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[112,11342],"class_list":["post-66255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-certification-news","category-community","language-english"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n\u2705 Urgent demands for immediate action
\n\u2705 Generic greetings and missing contact details
\n\u2705 Links that, when hovered over, show a mismatched or suspicious URL
\n\u2705 Poor grammar, spelling errors, or inconsistent formatting
\n\u2705 Suspicious attachments asking to be downloaded<\/p>\n
\n\ud83d\udea8 Verify the sender\u2019s email address by checking what appears between brackets [ ] or angle brackets < > in your email program. Authentic USDA, AMS, and NOP emails always come from usda.gov.
\n\ud83d\udea8 If you have already interacted with a phishing email, immediately reset your passwords, notify your IT department, and run a malware scan on your device.<\/p>\n